Florida SB 676: Equitable Distribution of Marital Assets and Liabilities

Bill Text

676 
Animal Welfare 
2026-02-25T10:28:46Z 
Creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, animal cruelty; requiring a court to order a minor who commits specified acts of animal cruelty to undergo a psychological evaluation and, if recommended, receive counseling or treatment for a specified time period; requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to post on its website specified information relating to each individual convicted of specified animal cruelty offenses; creating the offense of causing or enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor committing, fighting or baiting animals; increasing the maximum civil penalty for specified violations of ordinances relating to animal control or cruelty, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
2026-10-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 676 

 By the Committee on Fiscal Policy; and Senators Arrington and 
 Leek 

 594-03160-26 2026676c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to animal welfare; amending s. 828.12, 
 3 F.S.; creating the offense of causing or enticing a 
 4 minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor 
 5 committing, animal cruelty; requiring a court to order 
 6 a minor who commits specified acts of animal cruelty 
 7 to undergo a psychological evaluation and, if 
 8 recommended, receive counseling or treatment for a 
 9 specified time period; requiring the minor’s parent or 
 10 guardian or the state to pay the cost of such 
 11 evaluation, counseling, and treatment; providing an 
 12 exception; authorizing the court to hold the parent or 
 13 guardian in contempt under certain circumstances; 
 14 requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to post on 
 15 its website specified information relating to each 
 16 individual convicted of specified animal cruelty 
 17 offenses; specifying time periods for which the 
 18 information shall be posted; requiring the department 
 19 to develop a procedure to allow a person to petition 
 20 for the removal of his or her information under 
 21 specified circumstances; requiring the department to 
 22 remove specified information under specified 
 23 circumstances; specifying the time period within which 
 24 such information must be removed; authorizing the 
 25 department to adopt rules; requiring clerks of court 
 26 and county detention facilities to provide the 
 27 Department of Law Enforcement with specified 
 28 information, data, and images; amending s. 828.122, 
 29 F.S.; creating the offense of causing or enticing a 
 30 minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor 
 31 committing, fighting or baiting animals; amending s. 
 32 828.126, F.S.; creating the offense of causing or 
 33 enticing a minor to commit, or in the presence of a 
 34 minor committing, sexual activities involving animals; 
 35 amending s. 828.27, F.S.; increasing the maximum civil 
 36 penalty for specified violations of ordinances 
 37 relating to animal control or cruelty; amending s. 
 38 921.0022, F.S.; increasing the level on the offense 
 39 severity ranking chart for fighting or baiting 
 40 animals; ranking offenses created by the act on the 
 41 offense severity ranking chart; providing an effective 
 42 date. 
 43 
 44 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 45 
 46 Section 1. Present subsections (4) through (7) of section 
 47 828.12, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6) 
 48 through (9), respectively, new subsections (4) and (5) are added 
 49 to that section, present subsection (7) of that section is 
 50 amended, and subsections (1) and (2) of that section are 
 51 republished, to read: 
 52 828.12 Cruelty to animals.— 
 53 (1) A person who unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, 
 54 torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or 
 55 unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal, or causes the same 
 56 to be done, or carries in or upon any vehicle, or otherwise, any 
 57 animal in a cruel or inhumane manner, commits animal cruelty, a 
 58 misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 
 59 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or both. 
 60 (2) A person who intentionally commits an act to any 
 61 animal, or a person who owns or has the custody or control of 
 62 any animal and fails to act, which results in the cruel death, 
 63 or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or 
 64 suffering, or causes the same to be done, commits aggravated 
 65 animal cruelty, a felony of the third degree, punishable as 
 66 provided in s. 775.082 or by a fine of not more than $10,000, or 
 67 both. 
 68 (a) A person convicted of a violation of this subsection, 
 69 where the finder of fact determines that the violation includes 
 70 the knowing and intentional torture or torment of an animal that 
 71 injures, mutilates, or kills the animal, shall be ordered to pay 
 72 a minimum mandatory fine of $2,500 and undergo psychological 
 73 co