A work session to discuss Manatee County animal ordinances will be held on March 30, 2021, at 1:30pm at the Manatee County Administration Building, 1112 Manatee Avenue West, Bradenton, Florida 34205. View the agenda, information about the work session, and how to submit commentary. The file may take time to download. The ordinance, as approved in 2020, appears on pages 597-636.
Deadline for submission of online written comments is 2:00pm TODAY, 3/26/21. Please click on the link, above, for additional ways to comment.
The current ordinance includes:
- Animal nuisance laws
- Required inoculations, tests, and health certificates when selling or transferring a dog or puppy
- Tethering restrictions
- Outdoor confinement requirements for animals
- Enforcement provisions
- Other provisions that impact dog owners
Additional information:
Existing state law establishes requirements for the sale of dogs and puppies. Please note that both state law and the Manatee County ordinance exempt county-operated and city-operated animal control agencies and registered nonprofit humane organizations from complying with animal health provisions that are required for all other persons in Florida who sell or transfer a dog.
The American Kennel Club advocates that dog owners bear a special responsibility to their canine companions to provide proper care and humane treatment at all times. Proper care and humane treatment include an adequate and nutritious diet, clean water, safe and clean living and travel conditions, regular veterinary care, kind and responsive human companionship, and training in appropriate behavior.
Proper care should be provided to every dog, regardless of who or what organization has charge of it. Participants in the work session are encouraged to ask county commissioners to enact the same standards of care, inoculation requirements, and veterinary testing and health certificate requirements for all dogs sold or transferred in the county. To ensure proper care of dogs and to safeguard public health, these requirements should include dogs that are surrendered to, impounded by, imported by, or otherwise acquired by animal control agencies and nonprofit humane organizations and that subsequently are offered for adoption in the county or transferred to individuals or organizations outside the county.
How to Submit Comments:
Comments can be made in person, by calling in during the workshop, or submitted before 2:00 pm on March 26 via an online form. Additional information on submitting commentary can be viewed in the agenda file, linked above.
For additional information, please contact AKC Government Relations at 919-816-3720 or doglaw@akc.org.