The new Florida law enhances penalties for aggravated animal cruelty, and for the first time, there will be a statewide animal abuse database.
Part of a new Florida law takes effect Jan. 1 that aims to make it easier to find out if a person wanting to adopt a dog or cat has a history of animal abuse. Back in May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Dexter’s Law. It’s named for a dog that was decapitated after it was adopted in Pinellas County.
Dexter’s Law does two things — enhances penalties for aggravated animal cruelty and, for the first time, creates a statewide animal abuse database. Debbie Darino is the advocate behind the new law. She shared these new billboards with us. You’ll see these lining Florida roadways to raise awareness about the new database.
Here’s how the database will work. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will have a link on its website to a database that compiles information on individuals from across the state convicted of animal cruelty. Unlike a registry, where individuals would have to self-register, this approach simply compiles public records into a database. The database can help not only shelters evaluate adopters but also those trying to rehome a pet. Law enforcement and animal control could use it for investigations.
“So what I’m hoping is that it gets recognition that if you are thinking about hurting an animal or you have hurt an animal, you might want to think twice about that, because one, you’re gonna get charged under one or two of those bills that, you know, laws that I passed, and three, your name is gonna go in the database, so, everybody’s gonna be able to see your name in there. And maybe this will deter some of this animal abuse, knowing that your name is gonna be statewide in a database,” Darino said.
Darino also helped pass Ponce’s Law, which enables the court to ban convicted abusers from owning or having contact with animals.
“As a community, we need to do everything we can to protect these animals. They can’t pick up the phone and call the police, you know, they can’t talk to you, they can’t get away from these people, they don’t have a car to drive, so their whole, you know, they solely depend on us to take care of them,” Darino said.
Her goal is to get Dexter’s Law turned into a federal law.
“I wanna make sure that these agencies use them, that they apply these laws like they’re supposed to, and that they use the database like it’s intended to be used,” Darino said.
The animal abuse database law starts on Jan. 1, 2026. The part of the law creating enhanced penalties for abusers already took effect back in July.