If your ex is trying to take the dog, or you can’t agree with a co-owner, a family member, a breeder, or a rescue about who the animal belongs to, you want a lawyer who takes that seriously. We do, because we’re pet owners ourselves. We also defend owners when someone sues over a dog bite, help recover pets that have been stolen, and respond to Pinellas County Animal Services citations before the clock runs out. The sooner you talk to us, the more options you have.
Most law firms treat a fight over a dog the same way they’d treat any civil dispute. We don’t. The Goodwin Firm is one of the very few boutique firms in Florida specializing in pet law, and we know both the local ordinances and the statewide statutes these cases turn on. We never treat your animal as simple property, even when the law does.
We work with pet owners across St. Petersburg and Pinellas County – Historic Old Northeast, Kenwood, Gulfport, Pinellas Park, Pasadena, and St. Pete Beach among them. Thanks to the wonders of modern travel, and Zoom, we also represent pet owners throughout Florida.
Pet Ownership & “Custody” Disputes
Sorting out who owns the animal after a breakup, or between co-owners, family, or friends. We represent both sides - whether you’re trying to recover a pet that’s yours or you have the pet and someone is trying to take it. This includes disputes with breeders and rescues, where we represent owners and breeders or rescues alike.
Dog Bite Defense
We defend owners against civil liability claims when someone alleges their dog caused an injury.
Stolen Pet Disputes
Recovering a pet that’s been stolen or defending against a claim that one was.
Breed, Show & Sport Organization Disputes
Registration, eligibility, discipline, and membership disputes with the AKC and similar breed, show, and sport organizations.
Dangerous Dog Classifications & Animal Control Citations
We represent owners at administrative hearings to challenge animal control classifications, often alongside a dog bite matter.
HOA and Landlord Pet Disputes
Challenging no-pet, breed, and weight restrictions where there’s a legal basis to do so - including reasonable-accommodation claims for assistance animals, and restrictions that are being applied or enforced improperly.
Here’s how working with us usually goes.
Schedule a Consultation
We’ll review documents you provide to us, talk through what happened, and help you understand your rights and responsibilities.
Build Your Case Strategy
We gather the records, look at the ordinances that apply, and lay out your options, including the ones you may not want to hear.
Go to Work
We represent you in court, at the negotiating table, or at an administrative hearing.
The Goodwin Firm has focused on pet law in St. Petersburg since 2015. It was founded by April S. Goodwin for a straightforward reason: after nearly 14 years of practicing law, she was finished having a boss. She built it around pet law for a second reason that’s just as on-brand – it isn’t what everyone else does, and doing what everyone else does has never much appealed to her.
That contrarian streak comes in handy when your ex is trying to take the cat or your neighbor is claiming your dog bit them. The lawyers and staff at The Goodwin Firm like the fight and believe in empowering their clients to stand up for themselves. The Goodwin Firm is a small boutique firm by design. When you hire the firm, you work with the people actually handling your case, start to finish.
As for April, the one opponent she’s never managed to out-argue is her Australian Shepherd, Ripley, whose superpower is being too cute to lose.
Florida treats pets as personal property, so this isn’t handled the way child custody is. There’s no shared custody schedule and no “best interest of the pet.” It comes down to who can prove the animal is legally theirs.
If you’re trying to recover the pet, a skilled attorney helps you present evidence of sole ownership – a bill of sale, a purchase or adoption agreement, evidence of abandonment, or proof that the other party gave up their ownership rights.
If you have the pet and you are the one being sued, we will work the other direction by showing that their claim to ownership lacks the proof it needs, or that the documentation is unclear or doesn’t say what they claim it does.
You must act quickly because the county gives you a very narrow window to request an administrative hearing. Avoid making verbal or written statements to animal control officers without legal counsel.
An attorney may be able to argue that your dog was provoked or was on your own property as these factors may matter depending on the facts of your case.
Federal and Florida fair housing laws generally require housing providers to make a reasonable accommodation for a legitimate emotional support animal – but that right isn’t absolute. A provider can turn the request down if your emotional support animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or would cause substantial physical damage to property, and no other reasonable accommodation would fix it. That has to be an individualized decision, based on what your animal has actually done, not its breed, size, or how it looks. That said, an emotional support tiger or alligator may not pass muster, even if it’s been an absolute angel for its entire life.
When those exceptions don’t apply, a reasonable accommodation can override a no pet policy or a weight limit, as long as your documentation holds up. Because so much turns on the specific facts, it’s worth talking through your situation.
Pet law involves a unique intersection of property law, personal injury law, housing law, local county codes, and specific administrative procedures. A law firm that focuses on these cases has extensive, first-hand experience in seeing how Florida’s property rules actually play out when two people are fighting over an animal, and where the strengths and weaknesses of any case lie.
That focus gives you a real edge in an ownership fight or a dog bite defense.