Could a Local Ban on the Retail Sale of Pets be Back on the Table?

BRADENTON — Animal rights advocates in Manatee County may find a glimmer of hope in hearing that county commissioners are set to reopen a discussion concerning a possible ban on retail sale of cats and dogs. However, new state legislation may have made such a measure more challenging to enact than when the commission first did so in 2021.

It took nearly eight years for proponents of a local ban on the retail sale of pets in Manatee County to see positive results from their advocacy efforts. Less than two years after, however, an ordinance narrowly adopted by the commission was repealed following an election that turned three commission seats on the board.

At least one commissioner is interested in revisiting the conversation.

Commissioner George Kruse added a discussion item to next week’s BOCC meeting agenda, seeking to take the temperature of his fellow board members.

The agenda item’s coversheet outlines the impacts of the previous board’s decision to overturn the ban on the retail sale of pets, including increased pet sale establishments and an overwhelmed county animal shelter program.

“Since the time the ordinance was overturned,” reads the item coversheet, “retail sales have expanded in Manatee County, and the MCAW animal shelter has reached, and at times, exceeded capacity.”

Kruse appeared on the TBT Podcast last month and discussed his second-term priorities. One of them was his commitment to closing the aged and insufficient MCAW Palmetto animal shelter and expanding facilities at the Bishop Shelter location.

In addition, Kruse told TBT that he was also monitoring for any signs that the current commission might be interested in re-establishing a retail pet ban. (You can listen to his full comments on the topic here, beginning at 1:02:29.) 

But as Kruse told TBT then—and as he included in the details of his requested agenda item—the Florida Legislature has enacted certain preemptions since the previous board repealed the county’s first retail pet ban that could complicate the process.

One such measure is SB 170, passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023. The bill gives plaintiffs more rights in challenging local government ordinances, including the ability to get a temporary injunction and attorney fees.

TBT  reached Kruse by email to inquire about what led to his decision to place the topic for discussion on the next meeting agenda. 

In response to our email, Kruse reiterated that he has supported a retail pet sale ban since "day one." 

"I was the swing vote to enact it early in my time on the board," Kruse wrote to TBT, "and I was the lone no vote for rescinding it in 2023. I fundamentally believe that Manatee County should reinstate this ban as the will of the public was, and still is, strongly in support of the measure. " 

He added, "Animal rights groups have been working hard to educate the new board members, and the existing ones as well. The push to reengage on this topic is only getting louder."

At this point, Kruse wrote, he felt a more formal approach of scheduling a meeting discussion would allow the public to "respond and interact" with all of the commissioners collectively on the topic. 

"A ban would require an ordinance to be written, a legal review, and commissioners to be briefed," his email continued. "I am hopeful that I, and the public, will have confidence in a majority vote before beginning that process.

"If we do, I trust that it will result in a successful, permanent ban of retail pet sales in Manatee County, as it has in many other counties and cities across Florida and throughout the entire country.... if after Tuesday, we have a majority of the board in favor of bringing back this important ordinance, we can start that process immediately. "

In its first months as a newly formed board, commissioners have shown their commitment to reversing several previous controversial decisions by the former BOCC, including moves to reinstate local wetland buffer requirements, to increase impact fees to the maximum allowable, and to restore the public's ability to provide public comments by phone during meetings, among other actions.

Animal Rights Advocates Have Long Fought for a Ban

In 2015, the BOCC held its first meeting concerning possible regulations to halt the retail sale of cats and dogs. Local animal advocates found support for a proposed ban in former county commissioner and longtime animal rights supporter Carol Whitmore.

The meeting was well attended, with dozens of citizens in attendance taking turns addressing commissioners during public comments about the horrors of puppy mills and arguing that puppy mills were tied directly as inventory suppliers to local pet stores.

Executives of pet retailer Petland also attended the meeting. They told the commission that they "do not buy puppies from puppy mills."

It wouldn’t be until 2019 that the discussion gained new vigor, when Petland announced it would be expanding its Manatee County operations. Again, animal advocates found a champion in former commissioner Whitmore.

During a BOCC meeting that spring, commissioners directed staff to research ordinances in other counties and to present potential options for Manatee County officials to consider for enacting a local ban. Neighboring Sarasota County had adopted such an ordinance the year before.

Near the end of 2019, staff returned to the board and presented possible options. Though it took several months to complete the attorney review and to gain enough support among commissioners to impose it, during a meeting held in August 2021, commissioners voted 4-3 to approve the adoption of Ordinance 21-28 banning the retail sale of cats and dogs in Manatee County.

Current Commissioner Kruse was the swing vote among four new commissioners elected in 2020, helping carry the approval. The other three commissioners seated during that same cycle—former commissioners Kevin Van Ostenbridge, Vanessa Baugh, and James Satcher—voted in opposition.

Joining Whitmore and Kruse in support of the measure were former commissioners Misty Servia and Reggie Bellamy, giving the commission a one-vote majority to enact the ban.

However, the outcome of the 2022 election saw three new commissioners joining the board—commissioners Mike Rahn, Amanda Ballard, and Jason Bearden—while former commissioner Whitmore, who had long led the charge for pet sale regulations, lost her bid for reelection.

Following that year’s election, Commissioner Kruse was the only member remaining of the seven-member board to have cast a vote in support of the pet sale ordinance.

In early Jan. 2023, just months after a new board was seated, the subject of the retail pet ban returned to commissioners.

Former county attorney Bill Clague added the late-addition agenda item to update commissioners on pending litigation that had arisen to challenge the pet sale regulations.

Clague said his office was seeking the commission’s direction on whether it should pursue defending the county in support of the ban, considering the change in the board’s composition and a possible appetite to reverse the regulations.

Without the meeting’s agenda signifying that any action would be taken on the item, Commissioner Rahn unexpectedly motioned to direct the attorney’s office to draft and advertise a total repeal of the ban.

Former commissioner Baugh seconded Rahn’s motion, and commissioners Ballard, Bearden, Van Ostenbridge, and Satcher all voted in favor. Kruse was the only commissioner to cast a dissenting vote.

Public outcry to the repeal was considerable, with more than a dozen citizens appearing in person the next month to speak in opposition—including former commissioner Whitmore—and dozens more citizens submitting written public comments opposing the action.

Despite strong public support for maintaining the ordinance and its provisions, multiple commissioners strongly supported repealing it, citing the protection of the rights of private businesses as justification. 

Rahn said he could not support the regulating of local businesses and contended that the local Petland locations had been in operation for many years, and if there had been any significant problems at the locations, then "the market would have shut them down." Rahn further stated that he had personally visited stores and didn’t note any apparent issues.

Bearden called the local regulations unconstitutional and compared the pet sale ban to mask mandates or mandatory vaccinations. He believed regulations that could effectively “shut down” a local business needed to be addressed on the state level.

Ballard agreed that such regulations should be enacted by state legislators and that fighting to defend the county’s ordinance in the courts was a “waste of taxpayer funds.”

But Kruse challenged his fellow board members on their positions, arguing that previous courts had already found such measures were constitutional and had ruled in favor of upholding similar ordinances adopted by other local governments across the state. 

Despite his arguments, Kruse was overruled, and commissioners voted 5-1 in Feb. 2023 to officially repeal the ordinance. Kruse was the lone dissenting vote.

A More Recent Ordinance with Lesser Regulations

Although the ordinance was overturned, local animal advocates refused to accept the outcome quietly. For months, members of the public and local animal rights groups continued to lobby commissioners to take action to regulate local breeders and retail pet stores.

In Oct. 2024, commissioners adopted a new ordinance—Ordinance 24-92—which enacted regulations intended to oversee local pet breeders and sellers. Though not the total ban that local animal rights advocates had long fought for, the new ordinance did provide some increased regulations, including site inspections and business registration requirements.

Staff told commissioners that a new ordinance was needed due to significant increases in local breeder activities as well as animal seizures by the county’s animal welfare division due to “deplorable conditions” for the animals.

After hearing the staff’s presentation and recommendation, commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the measure.

In a press release Friday afternoon, county officials announced that the regulations enacted by the newer ordinance recently became effective.

Speaking by phone, former county commissioner, and current City of Holmes Beach Commissioner, Carol Whitmore told TBT that she is as much in favor of a local ban on the retail sale of pets today as she was ten years ago. She said she is encouraged to see that the current commission is going to revisit the subject.

“It makes no sense for counties surrounding Manatee to have this ban, and yet we look the other way and continue to allow the retail sale of animals,” Whitmore said. “Our county has a long history of animal welfare programs, such as No Kill.”

Whitmore added that she believes politics and certain commissioners' campaign vengeance played a role in the ordinance’s reversal but added she is “hopeful” the current BOCC will consider reinstating the ban and “righting a terrible wrong.”

The retail sale of pets discussion will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 18, during a regularly scheduled BOCC meeting. The meeting convenes at 9:00 a.m. in commission chambers in the downtown administration building.

Click here to view the meeting agenda and for instructions on how to submit public comments.