Florida SB 1356: Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases

Bill Text

1356 
Handling of Animals 
2026-02-05T07:39:21Z 
Requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop and adopt rules, best management practices, and other measures for dog breeding in this state; deleting a limit on veterinary costs under certain provisions; specifying requirements for retail stores that offer animals for sale; requiring dog breeders to apply to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for a certificate of registration and to renew the certificate at specified intervals, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 1356 

 By the Committee on Commerce and Tourism; and Senator Garcia 

 577-02493-26 20261356c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to the handling of animals; creating 
 3 s. 585.701, F.S.; providing legislative findings and 
 4 intent; defining terms; requiring the Department of 
 5 Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop and adopt 
 6 rules, best management practices, and other measures 
 7 for dog breeding in this state; requiring the 
 8 department to consider certain criteria in developing 
 9 the rules; requiring the Board of Veterinary Medicine 
 10 to verify that the proposed rules meet certain goals; 
 11 providing construction; amending s. 828.29, F.S.; 
 12 requiring that a pet sale financing agreement be 
 13 terminated without penalty under certain 
 14 circumstances; deleting a limit on veterinary costs 
 15 under certain provisions; requiring that all financing 
 16 terms be disclosed to the consumer before the sale of 
 17 an animal; requiring a specified mandatory waiting 
 18 period between the purchase and receipt of an animal 
 19 if the transaction is financed by the consumer; 
 20 prohibiting the signing of a financing agreement 
 21 before the conclusion of such waiting period; deleting 
 22 certain provisions relating to a consumer’s waiver 
 23 relinquishing his or her rights to return an animal; 
 24 requiring a pet dealer to provide copies of specified 
 25 medical records to a consumer; revising requirements 
 26 for a required notice to a consumer; revising the text 
 27 of the required notice; requiring a pet dealer to 
 28 retain a copy of the signed notice; requiring that the 
 29 consumer be given a copy of the signed notice; 
 30 requiring a pet dealer to retain certain records for a 
 31 specified timeframe; specifying requirements for 
 32 retail stores that offer animals for sale; requiring 
 33 retail stores to ensure that dog breeders and dog 
 34 breeding facilities from which the store acquires dogs 
 35 meet certain best management practices; providing that 
 36 violations constitute an unfair method of competition 
 37 or an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation 
 38 of specified provisions and are subject to penalties; 
 39 providing a private cause of action; providing 
 40 construction; creating s. 828.291, F.S.; defining 
 41 terms; requiring dog breeders to apply to the 
 42 Department of Business and Professional Regulation for 
 43 a certificate of registration and to renew the 
 44 certificate at specified intervals; authorizing the 
 45 department to investigate certain claims; authorizing 
 46 the department to establish a whistleblower program 
 47 for a specified purpose; specifying requirements for 
 48 such program; providing penalties for specified 
 49 practices and conditions; requiring certain 
 50 individuals, dog breeders, and dog breeding facilities 
 51 to be placed on a public animal abuser database; 
 52 requiring the department to provide certain 
 53 information to law enforcement for the purpose of 
 54 pursuing criminal charges; providing an effective 
 55 date. 
 56 
 57 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 58 
 59 Section 1. Section 585.701, Florida Statutes, is created to 
 60 read: 
 61 585.701 Dog breeders; best management practices.— 
 62 (1) The Legislature finds that the safe and ethical 
 63 breeding of dogs in this state is a matter of great public 
 64 importance, and that breeding dogs for profit without regard for 
 65 the condition in which the dogs live or how they are cared for 
 66 is an act of animal cruelty. Therefore, the Legislature intends 
 67 to ensure that dog breeding is done in an ethical manner by 
 68 establishing best management practices to ensure the humane 
 69 treatment of animals. 
 70 (2) As used in this section, the term: 
 71 (a) “Board” means the Board of Veterinary Medicine. 
 72 (b) “Breeding female dog” means a dog that has not been 
 73 spayed and is more than 6 months old and capable of 
 74 reproduction. 
 75 (c) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and 
 76 Consumer Services. 
 77 (d) “Dog breeder” means a person who owns or possesses 
 78 breeding female dogs and offers for sale more than two litters 
 79 of dogs per calendar year. 
 80 (e) “Dog breeding facility” means a location that is the 
 81