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Shut Down the Illegal and Cruel Capybara Café

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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

Fort Lauderdale cited a business for illegally keeping wild animals — then let it stay open.

A wet capybara presses its nose through a wire fence, standing in a sunlit enclosure with green grass behind it.

Since late September 2026, a Fort Lauderdale business called the Capybara Café has charged paying customers to enter and handle live capybaras in what is, by any legal definition, a wild-animal petting zoo. The business operates in the city's Thrive District — a location zoned for neither commercial animal exhibitions nor wildlife keeping of any kind.7 Fort Lauderdale's own municipal code prohibits exactly this type of operation. And yet the café remains open.

The Law Is Clear

Capybaras are non-domesticated wildlife native to South American wetlands. Under Fort Lauderdale's zoning ordinances, keeping wild or exotic animals in commercial and residential zones is prohibited. The Capybara Café fits that description precisely — it is a commercial space where the public pays to handle wild animals, and it has no permit authorizing it to operate as an animal exhibition.5 PETA flagged the operation within days of its opening and called on city officials to investigate.5

The City Acknowledged the Problem — Then Stalled

Fort Lauderdale's code enforcement office did respond. A citation was issued in connection with the operation — sent to the owner's home address — formally recognizing that something was wrong.6 But the citation did not close the business. The Capybara Café continued operating while the matter sat unresolved, and customers kept coming in to handle the animals.3

That gap between acknowledgment and action has had consequences. In late October, PETA filed a lawsuit against the City of Fort Lauderdale, arguing that allowing the café to continue operating amounts to a failure to enforce the city's own ordinances.1,2 The legal argument is straightforward: the zoning rules are on the books, the city is aware of the violation, and inaction is not a neutral position.1

These Animals Pay the Price

Capybaras are highly social, semi-aquatic animals with complex behavioral needs. Continuous handling by strangers in a commercial setting places chronic stress on animals that have no ability to remove themselves from the situation.4 The conditions inside the café — a steady stream of paying visitors, an enclosed space, no retreat — are fundamentally incompatible with what these animals need to stay healthy.3,4 They cannot consent to what is happening to them. The humans who have authority over this situation can act to end it.

Fort Lauderdale Has the Authority to Act Now

This is not a case where the law is ambiguous or the facts are contested. The Capybara Café is operating in violation of Fort Lauderdale's zoning code. The city issued a citation and then allowed the business to continue. A lawsuit is now pending because of that failure. The Acting City Manager has the authority to direct code enforcement to close this operation immediately — and thousands of people are asking them to use it.

Sign the petition now to urge Fort Lauderdale's Acting City Manager to enforce the city's own laws and shut down the Capybara Café without further delay.

More on this issue:

  1. PETA Media Center, PETA (27 October 2026), "PETA Sues Fort Lauderdale for Allowing Illegal Capybara Café to Operate."
  2. Naomi Feinstein, Axios Fort Lauderdale (30 October 2026), "PETA sues Fort Lauderdale to shut down Capybara Café."
  3. Phillip Valys, South Florida Sun Sentinel / CBS12 (3 October 2026), "PETA demands Fort Lauderdale officials shut down petting zoo Capybara Café."
  4. Michael Corthell, The Vegan's Voice Newsbreak (Substack) (3 November 2026), "The Vegan's Voice Newsbreak | November 3, 2026."
  5. Olee Fowler, Miami New Times (2 October 2026), "PETA calls for investigation into Fort Lauderdale's viral Capybara Café."
  6. Bri Buckley, CBS Miami (6 October 2026), "Fort Lauderdale's new Capybara Cafe draws PETA calls for closure as city cites owner's home."
  7. Naomi Feinstein, Axios Fort Lauderdale (28 September 2026), "Capybara Café opens in Fort Lauderdale; PETA isn't pleased."

The Petition

To the Acting City Manager, City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida,

We are writing on behalf of thousands of concerned citizens to urge you to direct Fort Lauderdale's code enforcement office to close the Capybara Café immediately, in full compliance with the city's existing municipal ordinances.

The facts of this situation are not in dispute. The Capybara Café, operating in Fort Lauderdale's Thrive District since late September 2026, charges the public to enter and handle live capybaras. Under Florida law and Fort Lauderdale's own zoning code, that is a wild-animal exhibition. The location where the business operates is not zoned for commercial animal exhibits or any form of wildlife petting operation. The animals involved — capybaras — are non-domesticated wildlife native to South American wetlands, not domesticated animals suited to continuous handling by strangers in an enclosed commercial space.

Your own code enforcement office has already acknowledged this. A citation was issued in connection with the operation. That citation represents a formal recognition that something is wrong. What has not followed is the closure that the law requires. While the citation sat unresolved, the business continued operating — and the gap between acknowledgment and action became significant enough that PETA filed a lawsuit against the city in late October, arguing that allowing the café to remain open constitutes a failure to enforce Fort Lauderdale's own ordinances.

We ask you to close that gap.

Capybaras are highly social, semi-aquatic animals with complex behavioral needs. Constant handling by paying customers in a commercial setting creates chronic stress for animals that have no ability to remove themselves from the situation. They cannot consent. They cannot leave. The responsibility for their welfare rests entirely with the humans who allowed this operation to open and have the authority to shut it down.

Compassion here is not separate from the law — it is consistent with it. Fort Lauderdale's zoning rules exist to protect communities and the living beings within them. Enforcing those rules in this case means recognizing that animals are not café props, that wild species belong in appropriate environments, and that a city's legal framework is only meaningful when it is applied.

We respectfully urge you to act without further delay. Closing the Capybara Café will send a clear message that Fort Lauderdale takes both its ordinances and its responsibility to living creatures seriously — and that commitment will ensure a better future for all.

Sincerely,

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