Santa Rosa County has no breed-specific dog ban. Florida law (SB 942, effective Oct. 1, 2023) prohibits local governments from regulating dogs by breed. The county regulates individual 'dangerous dogs' by behavior under FS Chapter 767.
The county does not ban pit bulls or any other breed. Since October 1, 2023, Florida SB 942 bars counties and cities from adopting breed-, size-, or weight-based dog regulations; restrictions on dangerous dogs must rest on an individual dog's behavior, not its breed. Santa Rosa County's ordinance adopts the state 'dangerous dog' framework: a dangerous dog is one that has aggressively bitten or severely injured a person, repeatedly killed or severely injured domestic animals off-property, was used for dog fighting, or when unprovoked chased or menaced a person. The county adopts FS Ch. 767.12 by reference and maintains a public list of dogs classified as dangerous, including breed if known.
A dog may be classified dangerous by county committee under FS 767 after a hearing; owners face confinement, registration, and liability requirements. Statute controls over ordinance in any conflict.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Santa Rosa County, FL
Backyard composting of yard and food scraps is allowed in Santa Rosa County with no permit for home-scale piles. Keep compost contained and free of odor and ...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County has no ordinance banning residential artificial turf, and it is not counted as required landscaping. The county's landscape code favors nat...
Santa Rosa County, FL
New development in Santa Rosa County must use native, Florida-Friendly species and may not plant invasive exotics. Existing single-family and duplex homes ar...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Rain barrels and rainwater harvesting are legal and encouraged in Santa Rosa County. Florida places no state restriction on collecting rainwater for irrigati...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County lies in the Northwest Florida Water Management District, which imposes NO day-of-week landscape-irrigation limits. Everyday lawn watering i...
Santa Rosa County, FL
Santa Rosa County Code Enforcement does not investigate vegetative overgrowth — grass, limbs, or woods — on private property. There is no active county weed-...
See how Navarre's breed restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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