HB 205 Florida House · 2025 Regular Session

Abandoning Restrained Dogs During Natural Disasters

HB 205 prohibits dog owners from restraining their dogs outside during a natural disaster and then abandoning them. This bill directly affects individuals who own dogs in areas subject to natural disasters. Its key provision makes it illegal to leave a dog tied up outdoors during such events and subsequently abandon the animal.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 16, 2025 Last action Apr 29, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

H 205 Filed → H 205 c1 · 2 edits

MINOR

The bill was amended to clarify that it prohibits restraining a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandoning the dog, rather than just abandoning a restrained dog. This change makes the law clearer about the specific prohibited behavior and maintains the felony penalty for this action.

Scope change

The bill's scope was clarified to explicitly prohibit the act of restraining a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandoning it, rather than just abandoning a dog that happens to be restrained.

DEFINITION

The short title and purpose statement was modified to clarify that the law prohibits restraining a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandoning the dog, rather than just abandoning a restrained dog.

REQUIREMENT

Section 828.13 was modified to explicitly state that restraining a dog outside during a natural disaster and then abandoning the dog constitutes a felony of the third degree.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 17, 2025

Committee

Bill referred to House Calendar

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable with CS by Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Judiciary Committee agenda

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Judiciary Committee

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable by Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Added to Criminal Justice Subcommittee agenda

lower

Jan 22, 2025

Lower · Passed

Now in Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

Jan 22, 2025

Committee

Referred to Judiciary Committee

lower

Jan 22, 2025

Committee

Referred to Criminal Justice Subcommittee

lower

1 primary · 8 co-sponsors