DeSantis Signs Bill to End Miami-Dade Ban on Pit Bulls

Miami-Dade County's decades-long ban on pit bulls is set to end this fall under a new state law that lifts all local dog breed, size and weight restrictions.

"Many of these bully breeds that we see are well-behaved, house-trained animals -- great representatives of dogs in general," said Lisa Glunt, executive director of the Leon County Humane Society. "But so often they're hit with a label that makes their living situation unlivable."

"Bully breeds" refers to a variety of dogs, including Boxers, Bulldogs, Bullmastiffs along with terrier-type dogs, such as the American Staffordshire Terrier and the American Pit Bull Terrier. These dogs are often labeled "dangerous dogs" and targeted with breed restrictions, Glunt explained.

Miami-Dade County is the only local government in Florida that prohibits residents from owning pit bulls. That's set to change on Oct. 1 under a new state law that prohibits all local government breed, weight and size restrictions, including those in effect at public housing authorities across the state.

Breed restrictions aren't based on science, Glunt explains. A study published last year in the peer-reviewed journal Science shows that a dog's breed is a poor predictor of how it will behave.

Dogs will be judged by behavior, not breed under new law.

Gov. Ron DeSantis Friday signed a measure that ends the last remaining municipal and public housing restrictions against specific dog breeds, which have mostly targeted pit bulls.

The legislation (SB 942) came through both chambers with just one "nay."

"As a child that went through over eight reconstructive plastic surgeries to my face, it is alarming that the ban could now be lifted," [Moreira] said.

Moreira's attack was instrumental in Miami-Dade County implementing a pit bill ban. She says the incident was so traumatizing that he still remembers it vividly.

"We were unloading groceries because we've been away all weekend and the dog came out of nowhere, knocked me down, ripped off almost most of my lip," she recalled. "It was able to be salvaged and most of my forehead, which I had to have about eight plastic surgeries after that."

[...] "Be responsible when you're talking about lifting a ban that could really harm a lot of children and the after effects of what happens to a child not only when they're mauled in the face," Moreira said.

As a member of Congress in 2018, Ron DeSantis voted in favor of the First Step Act.

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