Attention FL Residents! Marion County Appointed Commission to Consider Dog Ownership Limits Wednesday, 3/5

On Wednesday, March 5, 2025, the Land Development Regulation Commission of Marion County, Florida, will hold  a public hearing on “Limitations on Ownership and Possession of Dogs and Cats for unincorporated areas of the county”.  The proposal includes updated, restrictive definitions impacting dog ownership in the county, including commercial breeder (new), high volume breeder (new), and kennel (amended).  It also would limit the number of dogs and cats that residents of unincorporated areas of Marion County may own, including limits as low as four (4) for non-agricultural zones.

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is deeply concerned with the draft ordinance. All residents of Marion County are encouraged to review the details of the proposal, below; and to respectfully urge the members of the Land Development Regulation Commission and County Commissioners to oppose the proposal as currently written.

WHAT THE ORDINANCE WOULD DO

First, the proposal would amend and add definitions to Marion County’s Land Development Code (Article 1, Division 2) as follows:

• Animal related business (new): Any for-profit person or business that renders services to, for or by any domestic animal. Examples of animal related business include, but are not limited to, boarding facilities, doggie day cares, groomers and training facilities. Animal related business does not include the offices or practices of State-certified and licensed veterinarians.
• Animal related organization (new): Any not for profit entity that has tax exempt status in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and whose primary mission includes the rescue, welfare, care, and/or adoption/placement of stray, abandoned, or surrendered animals, and which does not obtain animals from a breeder or broker for payment or compensation.
• Commercial breeder (new): Any person, firm, partnership, corporation, or other association that engages in the breeding of four (4) or more dogs or cats, in aggregate.
• High volume owner (new): Any person, business, or organization who owns, harbors, or keeps more than fifteen (15) dogs or cats, in aggregate, at a property or structure, for any purpose, including, but not limited to, housing, boarding, breeding, training, show or exhibition, hunting, sale, rescue, adoption or personal pet or use. Such definition does not include any property or structure where a Florida state licensed veterinarian practices and has a premises permit, as required by F.S. Ch. 474, or any property or structure used as a veterinary hospital, medical research laboratory, pari-mutuel dog racing establishment, or any governmental agency, or to any boarding kennel operated in conjunction with any of the foregoing. Such definition shall not include the Animal Impoundment Center.
• Kennel (amended): Any place or premises where four or more dogs or cats, over four months of age are groomed, bred, raised, boarded, or trained for compensation or income including an Animal Related Business; Animal Related Organization; Commercial Breeder; and High-Volume Owners with over thirty (30) dogs and/or cats in aggregate.

Second, the new ordinance would add content to currently reserved section 4.3.28 of the Land Development Code.  Called Limitations on the Ownership and Possession of Dogs and Cats, it would limit the number of dogs and cats which may be owned and/or possessed in unincorporated areas of Marion County as follows:

• On all non-agriculturally zoned properties, no more than four (4) dogs or eight (8) cats per residence.
• On agriculturally zoned properties less than ten (10) acres in size, no more than six (6) dogs or ten (10) cats per residence. If the number of dogs or cats, in aggregate, exceeds 15, a high volume owner permit must be obtained from Marion County Animal Services.
• On agriculturally zoned properties of more than ten (10) acres, no more than ten (10) dogs or fifteen (15) cats per residence. If the number of dogs or cats, in aggregate, exceeds 15, a high volume owner permit must be obtained from Marion County Animal Services.
• High volume owners may apply for an exemption through the Special Use permit review and permitting process.
• Service animals would not be counted toward the number of animals permitted.

AKC’S POSITION AND CONCERNS

• AKC supports reasonable and enforceable laws that protect the welfare and health of dogs and do not restrict the rights of breeders and owners who meet their responsibilities.  AKC opposes the concept of breeding permits, breeding bans, or mandatory spay/neuter of purebred dogs, specifically those based on the number of dogs owned or maintained.
• Because approximately 81% of county residents would be impacted by this proposal, it is far reaching and will likely have negative impacts on many County residents.
• Because the definition of commercial breeder does not address how dogs would be counted toward the “four or more” threshold, it is arguably vague and must be clarified.
• Those who would be considered high volume owners would be required to apply for both a permit from Marion County Animal Services and seek an exemption through the Special Use permit review and permitting process.  AKC notes that neither would be automatically issued; and while the high volume owner permit process is undefined, the Special Use Permit process is extensive.
• The ordinance is silent on what would happen to animals over the permitted amounts if the permit or exemption is not granted.  To ensure that current owners in compliance with county ordinances will not be forced to give up any animals or be subject to the extensive Special Use Permit process, AKC continues to advocate that the ordinance should “grandfather” all owned animals at the time the ordinance goes into effect, and require owners to come into compliance as animals die or if transferred.  Not only would this be fair to current resident animal owners, it would also allow the county appropriate time to implement the operational and management requirements needed to carry out the far-impacting proposal.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

First, contact the Land Development Regulation Commission and express your deep concerns with the current draft dog limit zoning ordinance.  It may be reached by phone at (352) 438-2691, or by email using the form available at https://www.marionfl.org/doing-business/phone-directory/contact-planning.

Second, contact the Marion County Board of Commissioners to express deep concerns with the draft ownership limits ordinance currently before the Land Development Regulation Commission.

Please feel free to use the points above when asking them to oppose the current draft dog limit zoning ordinance.

All county commissioners may be contacted at once by emailing CountyCommissioners@marionfl.org.

Individual county commissioners may be contacted as follows:
Commissioner Kathy Bryant, Dist. 2 , Board Chair – Kathy.Bryant@MarionFL.org
Commissioner Carl Zalak, III, Dist. 4, Board Vice Chair – Carl.Zalak@MarionFL.org
Commissioner Craig Curry, Dist. 1 – (352) 438-2323, Craig.Curry@MarionFL.org
Commissioner Matt McClain, Dist. 3 – Matthew.McClain@MarionFL.org
Commissioner Michelle Stone, Dist. 5 – Michelle.Stone@MarionFL.org

The phone number for all commissioners is (352) 438-2323.

To identify your commission, go to https://www.marionfl.org/my-commissioners and use the Find Your Commissioner search feature near the bottom of the page.

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Posted by Liz on Mar 4 2025. Filed under Breaking News, Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.