Deltona commissioners voted 6-0 Monday night to approve an ordinance setting harsher financial penalties for people charged with animal cruelty and abandonment.
The move comes on the heels of a new state law, set to take effect Oct. 1, which allows local governments to enact stricter penalties for animal cruelty violations. The new law ramps up the maximum allowable fine for a third offense from $500 to $7,500.
In keeping with the new state law’s model, Deltona’s ordinance sets the city’s maximum penalties for animal abandonment as follows, effective Oct. 1:
- First violation: $2,500
- Second violation: $5,000
- Third or subsequent violation: $7,500
Deltona’s new ordinance will also expand the city’s animal abandonment regulations to apply for any domesticated animal, instead of the city’s prior specification of “dog, cat or ferret.”
Along with allowing for higher maximum penalties, the new state law also creates new, third-degree felony offenses for adults who either entice a minor to intentionally harm an animal, or do so themselves in the presence of a minor. Some jurisdictions in Florida keep a local registry of known animal abusers, including Volusia, Marion and Seminole counties.
Also at Monday night’s meeting, Deltona commissioners voted unanimously in favor of rescinding part of a recently-approved ordinance to regulate micromobility devices, like e-bikes and e-scooters.
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The ordinance approved last month initially included an age restriction banning anyone under the age of 18 from riding an e-bike or e-scooter in the city. But after hearing Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood say he’d refuse to enforce the age restriction, commissioners reversed course and moved, on Aug. 3, to eliminate that part of the ordinance.
However, upon review of the Aug. 3 meeting, Deltona’s city clerk noticed no commissioners had actually made a formal motion introducing the vote to rescind the ordinance’s age restriction. Monday night’s vote, then, was simply to “make it official,” said Mayor Santiago Avila, Jr.
“We're committed to, once we have a draft of the (updated) ordinance, working through that with the sheriff to make sure that it is something that they feel good about enforcing,” said City Attorney Zack Good.
Also on Monday, Deltona commissioners unanimously approved a motion calling for a 12-month moratorium on all types of data centers in the city.
