Putnam County animal control officers will be able to ticket dog owners for the first time in years after county commissioners voted Tuesday to attach fines to four kinds of violations, including up to $7,500 for owners who ignore the rules for dogs declared dangerous.
The Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Oct. 13 to make citations available for animals running lose, failing to follow dangerous dog requirements, failing to keep up with rabies vaccinations and improper care of animals. The county’s animal services advisory committee recommended all four.
In a 4-1 vote, with Commissioner Larry Harvey opposed, the board set fines for three of those four violations at up to $250 for a first offense, up to $500 for a second offense and up to $1,000 for a third offense. A first offense can also be a warning, and officers will decide the amount within those limits.
For owners who don’t follow the rules for dangerous dogs, commissioners unanimously set fines at the most state law allows: $2,500 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second violation and $7,500 for a third violation.
The county’s ordinance will require dangerous dog owners to meet the same rules set by the Pam Rock Act, a state law named for a 61-year-old mail carrier who was killed by a pack of five dogs in Interlachen in 2022.
That means owners of dogs declared dangerous must keep them securely confined, have them microchipped, carry $100,000 in liability insurance, keep their vaccines current and register them with Animal Services, Deputy County Administrator Julianne Young told commissioners.
The fines aren’t in effect yet, though. Commissioners voted unanimously to have county staff and the county attorney write the ordinance, which will come back to the board for approval.
Animal Services hasn’t written a legally enforceable citation in years, Young said. The county stopped because the current ordinance wasn’t written in a way that could hold up in court.
Officers still leave warnings and notices of violation, she said, but nothing backs them up. Young said officers will continue starting with warnings, but when an owner refuses to fix the problem, a citation gives them a way to act.
“I would much rather have staff having that opportunity than having nothing at their disposal to stop something that could escalate to the extent that someone gets injured,” Young said.
That enforcement gap drew attention in September, when Putnam County Animal Services had to obtain a court order requiring a Melrose man to surrender all but five of his dogs after years of complaints and reported attacks. Deputies arrested him Sept. 3 while Animal Services removed 36 dogs from his home, HomeFetch reported.
Tuesday’s vote also follows a new state law, House Bill 559, which went into effect Oct. 1. Signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May, it raised the maximum amount a Florida city or county can fine someone for breaking a local animal control or cruelty ordinance from $500 to $2,500 for a first offense, $5,00 for a second offense and $7,500 for a third offense.
County Attorney Rich Komando told commissioners the old state limits of $250 and $500 hadn’t changed in about 30 years, and those amounts are already in the county’s code.
Commissioner J.R. Newbold said neighboring counties typically charge $50 to $150 for a first offense, $100 to $250 for a second offense and $300 to $500 for a third offense. He initially proposed $75, $150 and $300, but Komando said setting the fines below the amounts already in the county’s code would be “regressing.”
Young told commissioners the demand on Animal Services is far beyond what its staff can handle. She said that from January through September, Animal Services logged 3,855 calls and opened 2,160 cases. That works out to about 12 new cases a day for the department’s five officers. In that same period, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office received 165 calls about bites and 1,102 complaints about animals in the same period, she said.
County Administrator Terry Suggs urged commissioners to give staff the tools to act.
“We wouldn’t be having this discussion today if those folks who had those animals that allow them to get out, allow them to roam the neighbors, allow them to attack their neighbors … if they took responsibility,” Suggs said.
Several residents who spoke during public comment pressed the board to act. One resident from East Palatka said three pit bulls mauled her 6-pound toy poodle, Franklin, on Aug. 27, and she asked commissioners to review how animal control handled the case, including why the dogs weren’t considered under the state’s dangerous dog law.
Newbold said the new rules likely won’t be right on the first try, and the board can revisit the fine amounts as it hears from the advisory committee, Animal Services staff and residents.
“Is it going to be perfect as we run forward? Probably not to start out,” Newbold said. “But there’s a lot of progress to make, and we’re not going to make it all here today.”
The ordinance will return to commissioners for a vote before any fines can be issued.
