Miami-Dade County, FL Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Rule 10 of Section 26-1, titled "Control of Nuisance Animals," defines an Exotic Animal as "a non-native animal species that occurs in South Florida" through human action, including feral and domestic animals, and a Native Animal as one that occurs naturally in South Florida. Subsection (b) forbids "the placement, abandonment or leaving of any animal in a County park or in public areas immediately adjacent to a County park," and separately bans introducing any exotic animal into a park at all. " That covers everything from tossing bread to ducks in a lake to baiting iguanas or raccoons; there is no size or species carve-out, only the Director's written authorization.

Subsection (d) goes further, declaring exotic animals roaming free in County parks a nuisance by default, with the Director empowered to set procedures to trap and remove them. Subsection (e) extends that nuisance-declaration power to native species too, but only after the Director consults the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and finds the species' number, location, behavior, or carcasses pose a hazard to public health, safety, or park resources. Enforcement runs through Section 26-2, which tasks the Miami-Dade Police Department with enforcing park rules on every property the Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department manages, countywide, including beaches shared with municipalities.

This rule reaches every County-operated park, not just those in unincorporated UMSA, since Rule 1 defines "Parks" by Department control rather than municipal boundary, covering facilities such as Crandon Park in the Village of Key Biscayne alongside unincorporated-area sites.