Two new pet-related laws are set to take effect in Florida on Jan. 1, bringing changes that will affect how residents adopt animals, insure them and manage pets in their homes.
House Bills 255 and 655 — an animal-cruelty database and a new regulatory framework for pet-insurance policies — were approved earlier this year. Both measures aim to standardize information available to adopters and clarify how veterinary-care plans are marketed and sold in the state.
House Bill 255, “Dexter’s Law”
House Bill 255, “Dexter’s Law,” creates Florida’s first public database of individuals convicted of animal cruelty and increases penalties for the most serious offenses.
The statute took effect July 1, 2025, and added a 1.25 sentencing multiplier for aggravated animal-cruelty cases, increasing potential prison time for those convicted. The online database is scheduled to go live on Jan. 1, 2026.
Shelters, rescue groups and individuals rehoming pets will be able to consult the database when screening applicants. The system, which will be built and maintained by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, will list convictions for felony and misdemeanor cruelty, neglect and abandonment offenses.
The law does not require landlords or HOAs to use it, but the information will be publicly available to any housing provider that chooses to review it.
Lawmakers drafted the measure following the 2021 killing of Dexter, a Pinellas County shelter dog who was found decapitated inside a plastic bag at a park just days after he was adopted. The accused in that case had prior contact with law enforcement, but no centralized record existed for shelters to check. Supporters argued that the absence of a statewide system allowed individuals with cruelty histories to adopt animals in other counties without screening.
House Bill 655, “Pet Insurance and Wellness Programs”
A separate measure, House Bill 655, moves pet-insurance products under Florida’s property-insurance statutes.
Under the new law, any policy sold as pet insurance must follow the same standards applied to other forms of property coverage, such as home, renters and auto insurance. Insurers must “use and include the statutory definitions in their policies,” per the bill, and make those definitions available on their websites.
The property-insurance classification also subjects pet-insurance carriers to the same rules governing premium filings, claims handling and advertising as other property-insurance products. The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation will oversee compliance with the new pet-insurance requirements.
Regulators pursued the change after complaints that some wellness plans, which cover routine care, were marketed as insurance despite offering no protection for illness or injury.
What this means for policyholders
For pet owners, the law creates clearer distinctions between routine-care plans and true insurance coverage.
Insurers must separate the two, reducing the likelihood that buyers select a plan that does not cover emergency treatment, diagnostics or certain illnesses. Exclusions and other limits must be disclosed in a manner consistent with other property-insurance products.
Because pet insurance will now be regulated under the same framework used for home and auto policies, companies must comply with stricter rules regarding how premiums are filed, how claims are processed and how policy terms are presented.
Existing policyholders may receive updated documents or revised terms as insurers bring their products into compliance with the new requirements.
The two measures are part of the more than 100 bills signed by Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this year, most of which are also scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1. For households with pets, they represent the primary statutory updates shaping how animals are brought into — and cared for — inside Florida homes in the year ahead.
