A Florida Democrat has proposed legislation that would prohibit dogs from sticking their heads out of car windows, as well as prohibiting dogs from sitting on drivers’ laps and requiring all dogs to travel in crates.
The Humane Cosmetics Act was introduced by Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, according to the Florida Standard. According to the bill’s summary, it prohibits “manufacturing, importing for profit, selling, or offering for sale” any cosmetics that have been tested on animals, as well as cat declawing.
The bill also calls for the state to create a publicly accessible website that lists the names of those convicted of “animal abuse offenses; providing penalties for specified violations, and so on.”
However, the actual text of the bill states right away that it is “prohibiting a person from taking specified actions relating to the transportation of dogs on public roadways.”
The bill makes it illegal to “hold a dog in one’s lap or allow a dog to be in such a position as to interfere with the person’s control over the driving mechanism.”
It also prohibits allowing a dog to “extend its head or any other body part outside a motor vehicle window while the person is driving the motor vehicle on a public highway.”
Any dog traveling in a motor vehicle must be “secured in a crate” and “safely restrained with a harness or pet seat belt” or controlled by someone who is not driving.
The bill also makes cat declawing illegal, with a $5,000 fine and the revocation of a veterinarian license possible for each violation.
The proposed legislation also seeks to prohibit the sale of rabbits during the months of March and April, as well as at any “flea market, private parking lot, or open-air venue, such as parades, concerts, and festivals.”
Stores must keep rabbits “in a separate area, off the sales floor and out of sight of the public, and label each cage, kennel, or enclosure with signage indicating that the rabbits are not for sale until May 1.”
