TO: Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Cale Curtis, City Manager
DATE: April 16, 2025
Title
RESOLUTION - EXPRESSING SUPPORT OF FLORIDA SENATE BILL 494: AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMAL CRUELTY REQUIRING THE DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT TO POST ON ITS WEBSITE THE NAMES OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE VIOLATED SPECIFIED ANIMAL CRUELTY AND SENATE BILL 150: AN ACT RELATING TO ANIMAL CRUELTY DURING A DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY PROVIDING INCREASED CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY OFFENSES COMMITTED DURING A DECLARED STATE OF EMERGENCY; AND FOR PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BACKGROUND: This agenda item is to provide support for Florida Senate Bill (SB) 494 and SB 150. SB 494 would compel the Department of Law Enforcement to post on its website a searchable format of the names of people convicted of animal cruelty and those who pleaded guilty or no contest. SB 150 would increase the penalties for abandoning animals using a restraint during a natural disaster and make it a third-degree felony, which could lead to a five-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.
RECOMMENDATION: For approval.
FISCAL IMPACT: None
CONTACT PERSON: Cale Curtis, City Manager