An animal-abuser registry should do more than list names. It should stop another pet from being handed to someone on it.

I'm Collyn, and my dogs, Mako and Kona, are my whole world. I cannot imagine handing either of them to someone with an animal-cruelty conviction. No animal should have to depend on someone overlooking that history.

Dexter deserved a safe home, too. Instead, he was killed just days after being adopted from a shelter in Pinellas County. The law named in his memory created Florida's statewide animal-abuser database. His death helped change the law—but we should not stop there.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement now maintains a public registry of people convicted of, or who pleaded guilty or no contest to, specified animal-cruelty offenses. It gives shelters, rescues, sellers, and families a way to check before placing an animal in someone's care.

But being listed is not the same as being barred.

Dexter's Law does not require every shelter, rescue, pet store, and breeder statewide to check the registry before an adoption or sale. Being listed does not, by itself, prohibit someone from adopting or purchasing another animal under statewide law. Although courts may impose individual restrictions and local requirements may apply, Florida does not have the universal statewide safeguard we are calling for. 

In 2026, Florida strengthened the database by requiring additional identifying information, including photographs, and establishing clearer requirements for maintaining those records. Now those records need to trigger action before an animal changes hands.

We are calling on the Florida Representatives to champion the next step, and on the Florida Legislature to pass these protections in the 2027 session.

Require shelters, rescues, pet stores, and breeders to verify identity and check the FDLE registry before every adoption or sale.

Prohibit anyone on the registry from adopting or buying an animal while listed, with clear enforcement for violations.

An animal leaving a shelter deserves a safe home—not an unchecked handoff to someone with a documented cruelty history.

Sign this petition and share it to demand that Florida lawmakers make registry checks mandatory and block adoptions and sales to registered animal abusers. Finish what Dexter's Law started.

We cannot bring Dexter back, but we can demand stronger protection for the next animal.