Lee County has no separate "hoarding" ordinance, but hoarding is reached through its cruelty and care standards. Every animal must have adequate food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, and sanitary conditions. Keeping animals in cruel or unsanitary conditions is citable and can be a state crime.
Ordinance 14-22 requires owners to provide adequate food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, and prohibits keeping animals in unsanitary conditions or where debris can injure or endanger them. Cruelty to animals is defined by reference to Chapter 828, Florida Statutes, which the ordinance adopts by reference. Animal Control Officers may impound any animal found to be cruelly treated or in obvious distress, and the owner is liable for all costs; unredeemed animals become county property after five days. These provisions are how the county addresses animal-hoarding situations, alongside criminal cruelty charges under state law.
Impoundment plus citation; owner liable for all care costs. A mandatory $25 Animal Care Trust Fund payment applies to adjudicated violations, plus the FS 828.27(4)(b) surcharge. Serious cruelty can be prosecuted criminally under Chapter 828, F.S.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lee County, FL
Backyard composting is allowed in Lee County; no ordinance prohibits a residential compost pile. Yard waste (grass, leaves, brush) is collected separately th...
Lee County, FL
Lee County's Land Development Code does not authorize synthetic turf as a substitute for required living landscaping, so it generally does not count toward d...
Lee County, FL
Lee County's development landscape standards require a large share of native Florida trees and shrubs from Appendix E, and Florida law (FS 373.185) bars HOAs...
Lee County, FL
Lee County does not restrict residential rainwater harvesting. Under water Ordinance No. 24-01, rain barrels, cisterns, and other rain-harvesting devices may...
Lee County, FL
Unincorporated Lee County limits landscape irrigation to set days by address and bans watering from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round under Ordinance No. 24-01, su...
Lee County, FL
The Lee County Lot Mowing Ordinance (No. 14-08) declares grasses and weeds over 12 inches on lots a nuisance in unincorporated areas. The County notices owne...
See how Lee County's animal hoarding rules stack up against other locations.
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.