"Pit bull" ban in Broward county Florida??? (pitbull, rottweiler, chihuahuas) - Dogs - - City-Data Forum

PitBullMommie1206 · 10-06-2009, 06:02 PM

Okay, as those of you who know me know, my husband and I are from Florida, but we are currently living in SLC, Utah, and our breed of choice is the American Pit Bull Terrier. We will be moving back to FL, where we will stay for many years, if not the rest of our lives, in 9-12 months. We have been researching different cities in FL to decide where we want to move. Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa are at the top of our list, as of right now.

I am from Jacksonville, FL originally, and that is where I have spent most of my life. I know that there you are allowed to own "pit bulls" in Jacksonville. Just like in any city, some neighborhoods, apartments, etc, have breed restrictions, but there is no city/county wide ban of any breed, that I am aware of, in Jacksonville/Duval county. I have also lived in Plantation/Broward county, and when I lived there, they didn't have a ban either. I know that Miami/Dade has a "pit bull" ban. And I also know that in the state of FL, no city or county can enact a breed ban, but places like Miami/Dade were grandfathered in and were allowed to keep their "pit bull" ban.

When I lived in Broward county, "pit bulls" that were picked up in Miami/Dade, were brought to Broward county, so they wouldn't have to be put to sleep. I also know of many people who moved to Broward county so they wouldn't have to give up there "pit bulls". To me, Broward county has always seemed like a safe haven for "pit bulls".

Now, that being said, our first choice would be somewhere in Broward county. Second would be Jacksonville and third would be Tampa. Again though, that's just as of right now. All of a sudden, I keep hearing that "pit bulls" are now banned in Broward county of all places!

I have looked all over the internet, again and again, and I can't find a single thing on that. All I have been able to find are stories about people who have moved from Miami/Dade to Broward county, so they could keep their "pit bulls". If this just happened, wouldn't we see this on the internet somewhere?

Also, for that to have happened, wouldn't that mean that the law that FL has where no city/county can ban a certain breed, would either have been broken big time, or lifted, I guess you could say? And, if that they changed that law, wouldn't we have heard something about that too?

I just keep thinking that if that no bred ban law was changed, we would have certainly head about it, and if there was a new city/county breed ban, we would have heard about that too.

Anyway, I wanted to see if anyone has heard anything about this? Is there anything that you have found that you could post for me that either shows that this has definitely happened or that this definitely has not happened?

It is very important that I find out the truth about this. One of the main things we need in a city is to be able to own APBTs. We will not ever move to a city that has any breed specific ban (because it starts with one breed and then next thing you know you there are 25+ banned breeds!), but especially not a "pit bull" ban. If this is true, we will need to just cut out broward county completely and start seriously looking at Tampa, Jacksonville and other cities.

Thanks in advance for any help! I am very concerned about this and I need to find out what, if anything, is really going on in Broward county.

groar · 10-06-2009, 06:38 PM

if you want to know for sure, you could try contacting the county government directly. here's a page about their animal-related laws: Broward County - Animal Care (http://www.broward.org/animal/welcome.htm - broken link)

i checked their page of animal laws and they have a dangerous dog law but no breed ban that i can see. but like i said, to be sure, why not contact someone in the county government directly and ask? and if they say yes, you can tell them they just lost a resident. if they say they're considering it, tell them you won't move there if it passes. you might be able to make a difference!

there may be some bsl laws in specific municipalities; it's probably worth calling the local government in any place you might be interested in moving.

PitBullMommie1206 · 10-06-2009, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groar

if you want to know for sure, you could try contacting the county government directly. here's a page about their animal-related laws: Broward County - Animal Care (http://www.broward.org/animal/welcome.htm - broken link)

i checked their page of animal laws and they have a dangerous dog law but no breed ban that i can see. but like i said, to be sure, why not contact someone in the county government directly and ask? and if they say yes, you can tell them they just lost a resident. if they say they're considering it, tell them you won't move there if it passes. you might be able to make a difference!

there may be some bsl laws in specific municipalities; it's probably worth calling the local government in any place you might be interested in moving.

Thanks for the info. I don't know why I didn't think of calling!

I will definitely do that tomorrow.

After I speak to someone about this, I'll let you know what I found out! Thanks again.

PitBullMommie1206 · 10-06-2009, 07:13 PM

Also, I e-mailed 2 friends of mine in FL and asked them if they have heard anything about this. This is what they said...

Quote:

Hi! Long time no talk! Anyway, other than Miami Dade, nowhere in FL has a pit bull ban. Florida's legislation making it illegal to ban pit bulls is still very much in place and only Miami Dade's ban was grandfathered in.

I hope you move to Jax, it's where the cool people are!

Quote:

Humane Society of Broward County - Everything You Want to Know About Pit Bulls
You are free and clear, my dear. Welcome back to Florida.

groar · 10-06-2009, 09:30 PM

ah, that is very cool! my state has something in its constitution that prevents breed bans from being enacted, that's a really nice thing.

PitBullMommie1206 · 10-06-2009, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groar

ah, that is very cool! my state has something in its constitution that prevents breed bans from being enacted, that's a really nice thing.

That's great! I wish every single state had that!

slicks123 · 10-10-2009, 09:07 PM

I am moving from NJ to either Boynton Beach, Lake Worth or Coconut Creek area in Fl in 3 weeks. I have 9 year old rottweiler and it seems nobody will let us move in. My first choice was 55 and over communities which were referred to me from this site and other people. When they say pet friendly it doesn't mean rottys. We were already to move into nice adult community in Boynton as they said no restrictions according to the call made. On whim called back and asked if that meant rotty and they said sorry he's dangerous breed. Now I have tried rentals and they also don't want rottys. Does any body know where there is true pet friendly housing for me and rotty and cat in above areas and even Ft. Lauderdale area. Thanks for any help in this matter.

Honeycrisp · 10-10-2009, 09:21 PM

I don't know about those areas but I do know there are places have no weight restrictions on dogs but you prob. will have to pay a pet fee. How about your vet writing a note about your dog, giving his age, his calm personality, that he's never bitten, is well trained, current on shots (esp. rabies) etc - ? Would also contact Rottweiler Rescue in the area you're planning on moving to and see if they can recommend some pet-friendly places that accept large dogs. Would also try meetup.com, put in the zip code of where you'll be moving and put in the breed (or else 'large breed') and post there, they have a message board and may be able to steer you to pet-friendly apts/condos that take large dogs and cats. Good luck.

phonelady61 · 10-11-2009, 04:19 PM

This is only one of the many reasons I am leaving florida again for the second time . I have wanted to get a rotty for a long time and I also rent . Now mind you i have two chihuahuas as well as they are noisy and they are sweet . I have also had rottys before with these two the rotty passed away But I could never live in a rental with the rotty only the chis and still they charged me an arm and a leg for rent in these apt complexes and the only thing I could rent was a run down house and they lady told me I had to help her pay part of her insurance cause they were charging her more because of the rotty being a dangerous breed , she showed me the papers . I did not have a problem with that . The point being I had to live in a run down house in a trashy neighborhood in florida in order to have my rotty . Florida stinks with its rents and they are ripping ppl off left and right . I will be moving to Ohio and found a house already in a nice neighborhood and no extra money to pay . So take it from there .

ShawnEllise · 10-14-2009, 09:19 PM

When moving to Orlando, from North Carolina, it was hard for me to find a place that would accept my rottweiler, but eventually I did. After actually living here, I was a able to find a few places. There is a cool service in the area that helps you search for an apartment if you have a restricted breed or any other particular needs. Apartmenthunters.com...Very helpful people.