10 rules for unincorporated Escambia County, Florida.
Verified from official government sources
Whether you may keep chickens depends on your zoning district under the Escambia County Land Development Code; agricultural and low-density parcels generally allow them. Florida's Right to Farm Act shields bona fide farm operations on agricultural land from most local restrictions.
F.S. § 823.14(6)
a local government may not adopt any ordinance, regulation, rule, or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural land
In unincorporated Escambia County, dogs may not roam free on public or private property without the owner's consent and must be under direct physical control off your property. Declared dangerous dogs must be muzzled and leashed whenever outside their enclosure.
Escambia County Code § 10-11(a)
Animals are prohibited from roaming freely on any public or private property without the consent of the owner or lessee.
Escambia County cannot ban or restrict any dog by breed. Florida Statute 767.14 prohibits local governments from adopting breed-, weight-, or size-specific dog regulations, so pit bulls and other breeds are treated the same as any other dog.
F.S. § 767.14
no such regulation is specific to breed, weight, or size and that the provisions of this act are not lessened by such additional regulations or requirements
Escambia County cannot ban or restrict registered honeybee colonies. Florida Statute 586.10 preempts beekeeping regulation to the state; keepers register with the Department of Agriculture and follow its best-management practices for hive placement.
F.S. § 586.10(1)
The authority to regulate, inspect, and permit managed honeybee colonies and to adopt rules on the placement and location of registered inspected managed honeybee colonies is preempted to the state
Escambia County Code defines 'wild animal' broadly and excludes ordinary domestic pets. Keeping true exotic or wild species is governed statewide by Florida FWC captive-wildlife permitting, which classifies animals into Class I, II, and III and requires permits.
Escambia County Code § 10-3
Wild animal means any living member of the kingdom Animalia, including those born or raised in captivity, except the following:
Feeding wild animals is restricted statewide by Florida FWC rules. It is illegal to intentionally feed bears, alligators, crocodiles, and several other species; violations escalate from civil penalties to criminal misdemeanors under F.S. § 379.412.
FWC / F.A.C. 68A-4.001; F.S. § 379.412
The FWC has several rules that prohibit feeding wildlife, including bears, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, pelicans, sandhill cranes, bald eagles, alligators and crocodiles.
Livestock — horses, cattle, goats, swine and other farm animals — is allowed on agricultural and larger rural residential parcels under Escambia County's Land Development Code, not in dense residential districts. Florida's Right to Farm Act protects established agricultural operations.
Escambia County Code § 10-3
Livestock means all domestic animals kept for use on a farm or raised for sale and profit.
Escambia County has no separate 'hoarding' ordinance, but keeping animals without adequate food, water, air, and shelter is unlawful animal cruelty under Code § 10-16, which adopts Florida's cruelty statute F.S. § 828.13. Neglected or confined animals can be seized.
Escambia County Code § 10-16(b)
to impound or confine any animal in a place or enclosure without supplying such animal with a sufficient quantity of good and wholesome food and water and air, during such period of confinement
Escambia County's animal code sets no fixed numeric limit on how many dogs or cats a household may keep. Instead, all animals must be licensed and vaccinated, and any that create a nuisance can be enforced against regardless of count.
Cats are 'animals' under Escambia County Code and are subject to the same at-large and nuisance rules as dogs, though there is no cat leash mandate. Registered community (feral) cats in the county's TNR program are exempt from the roaming-at-large rule.
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