New bill introduced in Florida to expand protections for dogs riding in cars, tied up outside

A Broward County lawmaker has introduced a new animal welfare bill that would outlaw dogs extending their heads out of car windows on public streets and place limits on how long dogs can be tethered outside.

The Animal Welfare bill, SB932, was introduced on February 17 by Democratic Rep. Lauren Book, and aims to protect pets in the Sunshine State in a variety of ways. The bill would criminalize drivers allowing their dogs to ride on their laps while in a moving vehicle on public roadways, as well as prohibit dogs from hanging their heads or any other body part out of a moving vehicle. The measures are intended to increase dogs’ safety and prevent them from getting foreign objects in their eyes and prevent them from being injured.

The bill also includes measures to limit how long an animal can be left tethered outdoors in Florida, and bans declawing cats. Currently, only two states, Maryland and New York, have laws on the books banning the practice of removing cats’ claws. 

The bill most notably includes a measure that would ban the sale and manufacturing of animal-tested cosmetics in the state. The  “Humane Cosmetics Act” included in the Animal Welfare bill would prohibit “manufacturing, importing for profit, selling, or offering for sale in this state a cosmetic developed or manufactured using cosmetic animal testing conducted or contracted by certain persons or from conducting or contracting for cosmetic animal testing” in Florida.

In addition, the bill would create a public registry of animal abuse offenders in the state. The bill is making its way through the Florida Senate and if passed will move to the Florida House.