The Dade County Board received a staff presentation on Oct. 2 proposing a full rewrite of the county’s animal-control chapter (chapter 14) and set a 30-day review period for the draft ordinance.

Robin (last name in the transcript: Rogers) told the board that rather than piecemeal edits, staff rewrote the chapter to improve clarity and to incorporate relevant state laws. The rewrite is intended to produce a single, readable ordinance rather than the patched-together provisions the county had in place, staff said.

Commissioners discussed next steps and review channels. Staff and commissioners recommended circulating the draft to the TDAC committee and other stakeholders for comment before formal readings. One commissioner asked whether to take the draft as a first reading or to allow committee review; the board opted to table the item for 30 days to allow advisory board review and public comment, with consideration at the next regularly scheduled meeting (early November), according to staff’s timeline.

The board emphasized that the rewrite intends to codify state law provisions already applicable to animal-control matters and to clarify enforcement and procedural language. No vote on adoption occurred; the draft will return after the 30-day review period with any recommended amendments.