Florida’s 2026 Animal Cruelty Changes: A New Felony Involving a Minor, and the FDLE Website

Florida has punished cruelty to animals since 1901, in what’s now section 828.12 of the Florida Statutes. House Bill 559, chapter 2026-78, Laws of Florida, signed May 12, changed it on October 1, 2026. A second law, Senate Bill 1004, chapter 2026-76, took effect July 1. Both build on Dexter’s Law, the 2025 law that first put the names of people convicted of animal cruelty online.

The new felony is narrow. It reaches only aggravated cruelty, and only when a child took part or was there. The website reaches every conviction under the statute.

What the Statute Punishes

Section 828.12(1) is animal cruelty, a first-degree misdemeanor carrying up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine. It covers a person who “unnecessarily overloads, overdrives, torments, deprives of necessary sustenance or shelter, or unnecessarily mutilates, or kills any animal.”

Section 828.12(2) is aggravated animal cruelty, a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It covers “a person who intentionally commits an act to any animal, or a person who owns or has the custody or control of any animal and fails to act, which results in the cruel death, or excessive or repeated infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering.” It’s that result that makes it a felony.

A finding of “knowing and intentional torture or torment” adds a $2,500 minimum fine and required counseling or anger management, and since Dexter’s Law it multiplies the person’s sentencing points by 1.25 when it’s the main charge. A second aggravated conviction brings at least six months of mandatory incarceration with no early release.

What Changed in 2026

House Bill 559 created the new felony for cruelty involving a minor, section 828.12(4), plus matching felonies for animal fighting or baiting, section 828.122(4), and for sexual activity with animals. The bill wrote that last one as section 828.126(4), and it appears as 828.126(7) in the 2026 Florida Statutes.

It also requires a juvenile court to order a psychological evaluation for any minor who commits animal cruelty, and treatment if it’s recommended, with the parent paying unless the court finds “indigency and significant financial hardship.” It raised the cap on local animal ordinance fines from $500 to as much as $7,500 for a third violation. And it rewrote the FDLE website rule, now section 828.12(9).

The New Felony When a Minor Is Involved

Section 828.12(4) reads: “A person 18 years of age or older commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, if he or she causes or entices a minor to commit, or in the presence of a minor commits, a violation of subsection (2).”

That’s up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The bill ranks it at level 6 on the offense severity chart, one level above aggravated cruelty itself, so it scores more sentencing points. Florida’s general definitions section, 1.01(13), says a “minor” is anyone who hasn’t reached 18.

In either version, the State has to prove an actual violation of subsection (2). Misdemeanor cruelty under subsection (1) in front of a child doesn’t qualify.

Chapter 828 doesn’t define “in the presence of.” Reading the same words in an older lewd conduct statute, the Florida Supreme Court held in State v. Werner, 609 So. 2d 585 (Fla. 1992), that “the child must see or sense” the act. Id. at 587. That case was about a different statute, so it’s for the courts to say whether its reading carries over here.

The FDLE Website and What It Costs

Dexter’s Law, chapter 2025-102, told FDLE to post the names of people convicted under section 828.12 beginning January 1, 2026. FDLE’s page is titled “Aggravated Animal Cruelty,” it’s searchable by name, and it says it’s “updated upon the Florida Department of Law Enforcement receiving final disposition data.”

The 2026 laws didn’t stop at names. By January 1, 2027, section 828.12(9)(a) requires each person’s name and aliases, date of birth, race, counties of conviction, charges, case numbers, dispositions, a “description of any identifying marks and tattoos, and a photograph taken at the time of booking.” Clerks and county jails have to send FDLE the data.

It covers anyone “convicted of, or who has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a violation of this section.” So a withhold of adjudication, where the judge doesn’t formally find the person guilty, still counts, and so does a misdemeanor. The rule is written into section 828.12 and doesn’t mention the separate fighting, sexual activity or confinement statutes.

The listing lasts three years from conviction for a first misdemeanor, five for a first felony, and ten for any later conviction. A person whose conviction is overturned or whose record is sealed can petition, and FDLE must remove the listing within 30 days of a petition “with adequate documentation.” The statute doesn’t list any other way off early.

It isn’t a registration duty. The House’s final bill analysis says the bill “does not require such offenders to affirmatively register” with FDLE. Nobody’s required to report in.

Separately, a court can bar a person convicted under section 828.12 from owning or having custody of “any animal for a period of time determined by the court.” Because sealing is one of only two ways off the website early, the firm’s page on sealing and expunging a Florida criminal record is worth reading before any plea.

Where the Defense Is

Intent first. In Reynolds v. State, 842 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 2002), the Florida Supreme Court held that aggravated animal cruelty “constitutes a general intent crime.” Id. at 47. The statute requires only that the defendant “intentionally commit an act,” so the State doesn’t have to prove the person meant to cause suffering. Id. at 49. That leaves a narrower fight over whether the act was deliberate or an accident. The torture finding does require “knowing and intentional” conduct, and it’s worth contesting separately because it drives the minimum fine and the multiplier.

Then “unnecessary.” Chapter 828 defines cruelty as an “act, omission, or neglect whereby unnecessary or unjustifiable pain or suffering is caused.” Veterinary records and a necropsy, an autopsy on the animal, can show whether the pain was unnecessary and how long it lasted.

Then the line between neglect and cruelty. Depriving an animal of “necessary sustenance or shelter” is the misdemeanor in subsection (1), and confining one without enough food or water is a separate misdemeanor under section 828.13. A failure to act isn’t the felony unless it causes a cruel death or excessive or repeated unnecessary pain. That’s a medical question about what caused the animal’s condition and when.

Then custody. The failure-to-act version reaches only someone who “owns or has the custody or control” of the animal. With a roommate’s dog or a pet left with a sitter, the State has to prove who actually had custody when the harm happened.

Last, the minor. The State has to prove the child’s age, the adult’s age, and presence in whatever sense the court adopts. A child’s account, sometimes taken in a forensic interview, a recorded interview by a trained child interviewer, deserves close review for suggestion and timing. The firm’s page on juvenile defense covers cases where the accused is the child, and every Florida criminal law that took effect October 1, 2026 covers the rest of this year’s changes.

Common Questions

Is animal cruelty a felony in Florida?

It can be. Aggravated animal cruelty under section 828.12(2) is a third-degree felony, and so, since October 1, 2026, is aggravated cruelty committed in the presence of a minor or by causing or enticing a minor, under section 828.12(4). Animal cruelty under section 828.12(1) is a first-degree misdemeanor.

Does Florida have an animal abuser registry?

FDLE runs a public, name-searchable website of people convicted under section 828.12, and by January 1, 2027, it must include booking photos and case details. The House’s final bill analysis says offenders don’t have to register anything themselves.

How long does someone stay on Florida’s animal cruelty website?

Three years from conviction for a first misdemeanor, five for a first felony, and ten for any later conviction. A withhold of adjudication doesn’t keep a person off. An overturned conviction or a sealed record allows a petition for removal.

Further Reading

1. CS/HB 559 (2026), Animal Welfare, Florida Senate bill page with the enrolled text and the House final bill analysis
2. Chapter 2026-78, Laws of Florida, signed May 12, 2026
3. Chapter 2026-76, Laws of Florida, CS/SB 1004
4. Chapter 2025-102, Laws of Florida, Dexter’s Law
5. Fla. Stat. 828.12, cruelty to animals, Online Sunshine
6. Aggravated Animal Cruelty, FDLE search page
7. Reynolds v. State, 842 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 2002), CourtListener
8. State v. Werner, 609 So. 2d 585 (Fla. 1992), CourtListener

This post is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The laws discussed are CS/House Bill 559 (2026), chapter 2026-78, Laws of Florida, effective October 1, 2026; CS/Senate Bill 1004 (2026), chapter 2026-76, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2026; and CS/House Bill 255 (2025), Dexter’s Law, chapter 2025-102, Laws of Florida, read in the chapter law texts and the House of Representatives final bill analysis of HB 559 dated May 14, 2026, together with sections 1.01, 775.082, 775.083, 828.02, 828.12, 828.122, 828.126, 828.13, 828.27, 921.0022 and 921.0024, Florida Statutes, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Aggravated Animal Cruelty web page, Reynolds v. State, 842 So. 2d 46 (Fla. 2002), and State v. Werner, 609 So. 2d 585 (Fla. 1992), as of October 6, 2026.