Tamarac, FL Animal Ordinances: Breed Restrictions (2026)

Section 4-3, last amended by Ord. No. 2009-03 in 2009, defines a "dangerous dog" through documented behavior rather than breed: a dog that has unprovoked approached a person in a menacing way on a public street or grounds, killed or severely injured a domestic animal off its owner's property while unprovoked, aggressively bitten, attacked, or severely injured a person, or been used for or trained for dog fighting. A bite is excused, and the dog is not "dangerous," if it happened on the owner's property while the dog was under the owner's direction and control, or if the person bitten was committing a misdemeanor or felony at the time.

This behavior-based approach replaced Tamarac's former breed-specific rule: an editor's note in the code confirms Ord. No. 2017-07, adopted July 12, 2017, repealed the old Article II, §§ 4-26-4-33, which had regulated pit bull dogs specifically. Every dog bite or dangerous-dog complaint is investigated by the Broward Sheriff's Office, and the owner must show proof of current vaccinations; failing that, an officer can immediately take the dog into custody and quarantine it for three to ten days at a Broward County animal control kennel or a veterinarian's kennel, at the owner's cost, and never at the owner's home.

Within five business days of the incident, the owner must register a declared dangerous dog with the city clerk and provide proof of liability insurance covering the dog in the amount of $500,000.00. A declared dangerous dog must be muzzled and kept under close control whenever it is off the owner's property, is barred from the Tamarac dog park, and a second biting incident lets the city or Broward County's Animal Control Division remove the dog from the city. Violations are punished under the Code's general penalty provisions.