Dog owners in the City of Deltona, Florida, are now required by the law to exercise their pets every day lest they face civil infractions, Fox35 Orlando reports.
On Jan. 2, the Deltona City Commission approved a couple of amendments to chapter 14 of its Code of Ordinances, which focuses on the health and safety of animals. These new requirements aim to further promote pet health and prevent animal cruelty in Deltona. Providing dogs with daily exercise is part of the approved requirements.
The new law states, “Animals must be given appropriate daily exercise. Subjective varies dog to dog dependent on age, health, and breed.” In other words, this law acknowledges factors such as your dog’s breed, age, and health greatly determine their exercise needs.
Therefore, it is up to dog owners to ensure their canines get the right amount of exercise every day. Among the various ways to exercise your dog, owners may opt for walking, swimming, running, or even playing tug-of-war.
Deltona’s tougher regulations on animal cruelty
Besides making it mandatory to give dogs daily exercise, the city also approved a new set of stricter regulations regarding animal cruelty.
One of these requirements includes providing dogs with adequate protection from cold and heat. Specifically, the law now requires every local dog owner to move their canines indoors when temperatures outside drop below 40 degrees.
Additionally, when temperatures outside reach 90 degrees, dog owners must provide their pets with a fan at their place of shelter to help control the heat.
And that’s not all. Other approved regulations include:
- Safe enclosures: All animals housed in an outdoor enclosure should have at least 25 square feet of open space. If one has two or more animals sharing the same enclosed space, they should provide an extra 25 square feet of space for every additional pet.
- Calamities: According to the new law, all dogs, cats, and other pets must always be “provided clean water, dry ground, shade for protection from the sun, thunderstorms, lightning, hail, hurricanes, tornados, tropical storms, floodwaters, winds in excess of 20 miles per hour, and other natural, manmade calamities.”
- Not leaving dogs in cars: The new law prohibits dog owners from leaving their canines unattended in vehicles without adequate ventilation.
Moreover, the city has passed a law protecting those who break into locked vehicles to save trapped pets. In this case, such good Samaritans won’t face civil liabilities for damages, particularly if there were no other reasonable ways to free the animal.
