Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog
The primary purpose of a Florida domestic violence injunction is to protect people, but attacks on pets were considered part of the court’s equation under F.S. 741.30(6)(b). But now, pet protections have been strengthened as of July 1, 2026, following the passage of CS/CS/HB 277. Now, the statute not only allows courts weighing domestic violence injunction petitions to assess whether a a respondent intentionally injured or killed a family pet, but also whether respondent merely threatened to do so.
Why That Distinction Matters to Domestic Violence Defendants
Proving intentional injury or death of a pet typically requires some combination of veterinary record, video evidence, witness testimony, digital message exchanges, or a confession. Proving a threat, meanwhile, may only require testimony about words. Obviously, video, audio, or digital evidence would strengthen the allegation, but it may not be necessary. Florida injunction hearings are generally civil proceedings, held on short notice, decided by a judge without a jury, and often resolved on the basis of which party the court finds more credible.
It should be noted that F.S. 741.30(6)(b) does not limit courts to consideration of the enumerated factors listed in the law. So a judge in Broward could already have weighed a threat against a dog under that catchall language. But the statute did provide a checkbox on the form and a talking point at the hearing, so it is likely we’ll see this point increasingly argued at injunction hearings.
Respondents should know such an allegation is a possibility and prepare to directly and with careful consideration rather than dismissing it as unserious.
The Research to Which Lawmakers Were Responding
The enumerated factor exists because the evidence behind it is substantial, and a respondent who treats it as a joke in front of a judge will lose ground. A systematic review published in Research in Veterinary Science examined 30 studies and found animal abuse prevalence in households with intimate partner violence ranging from 21 to 89 percent, with a significant relationship between the two. Research using the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey, a nationally representative sample rather than a shelter population, found that actual and threatened abuse of pets by a romantic partner significantly predicted that partner also perpetrating intimate partner violence, particularly physical and severe abuse. Continue reading
