- October 31, 2024
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The Flagler County Commission on Monday, Aug. 19, will consider a proposal designed to improve the lives of its animal residents.
The proposal is an amendment that would change the county's code of ordinances to prohibit animal cruelty and neglect, ban unattended dog tethering and strengthen enforcement mechanisms against irresponsible or abusive pet owners. The county's code of ordinances regulates unincorporated Flagler County.
Although the county revised its Dangerous Dog Ordinance last year to update quasi-judicial procedures, most of the county's ordinance concerning animals hasn't been changed in a quarter century, according to county documents.
The current county code also does not ban animal cruelty and neglect.
"Currently, these are not prohibited by County Ordinance and are only addressed through criminal prosecution or through a petition to the court to obtain an order deeming an owner unfit to possess animals and remanding custody of animals to the Humane Society," a county meeting backup document states. "Animal Services encounters many situations that do not rise to the level of criminal neglect or to the level where an owner should be forever barred from care or custody of animals, but nevertheless merit consequence. Today’s ordinance will give Animal Services tools to address these cases through civil citations."
The proposed amendment to the county code of ordinances also bans owners from letting their animals run at large, and regulates dog tethering and bans unattended dog tethering, with a mandatory exception for farm operations, according to the document. (The city of Bunnell already bans unattended dog tethering.)
It creates a civil citation enforcement mechanism for violations, and adds a $5 surcharge on civil citations, in order to fund training of animal control officers. Civil penalties would not exceed $500. Under the proposed amendment, the county could compel people with aggravated or repeated violations of the animal ordinance to appear in court.
The ordinance's definition of animal abuse references state statute language and includes animal cruelty; fighting or baiting animals; abandonment or confinement of animals with insufficient food, water and exercise, and other offenses.
In other business at the meeting, the commission will consider, among other items:
To view the full agenda for the meeting, go HERE. The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 19, in the board chambers of the Government Services Building at 1769 E. Moody Blvd. in Bunnell.
