Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

The Palm Beach County, FL Board of Commissioners has added the preliminary reading of the proposed repeal and replace Animal Care and Control Ordinance to the September 1, 2026 Board of County Commissioners meeting agenda. The Commission will also decide whether to advertise the ordinance at that meeting. The draft ordinance would affect cat and dog hobby breeders in the county and would make hobby breeding more expensive by increasing hobby breeder permit fees from $150 to $400 per year. According to the ordinance summary, the increase is meant to cover the cost of implementing the program, which is currently $66,000 per year. Mandatory inspections would be conducted at least once a year as a condition of annual permit renewal. Cats over four months and dogs over six months must be sterilized without an approved hobby breeder permit and an intact license. Only one Hobby permit shall be issued per parcel of land. A hobby breeder is defined as “any person who intentionally or unintentionally causes or allows the breeding or studding of a dog or cat or engages in the breeding of up to two (2) litters of dogs or cats or nineteen (19) dogs or cats per household or premises per one-year period.” [Emphasis added.]

 The proposed draft removes the term “or unintentional” from the definition of hobby breeder, but unintentional shows up in the new definition of illegal breeder. An “Illegal breeder shall mean any person who intentionally or unintentionally causes or allows the breeding or studding of a dog or cat or engages in such without an approved Hobby Breeder permit”. Illegal breeders must sterilize their animals within 30 days of the notice of noncompliance. They will also be ineligible for a Hobby Breeder permit for one year. There are no lesser penalties for a first-time offense.

Hobby breeding is already very restrictive in the county. The proposed draft would significantly increase costs for hobby breeders. With the illegal breeder provisions, it could end breeding programs and eliminate valuable lines important to maintaining genetic diversity and health in the breed.

Other proposed changes include clarifying the number of animals allowed for certain size parcels of land, reducing the hold period in shelters for cats without microchips (electronic animal identification device), commercial breeder requirements, and the manner of keeping animals.  

Agendas for the Board of Commissioners can be found at https://discover.pbc.gov/countycommissioners/Pages/Meeting-Dates.aspx

The proposed ordinance can be found at http://www.pbcgov.com/pubInf/Agenda/20260901/5D1.pdf