Editorial
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is an avid photographer. It’s his favorite hobby outside of his job.
Judd loves taking landscape and wildlife photos.
“I really, really love my photography,” Judd said. “It’s kind of the 180-degree opposite of what I do for a living.”
Sheriff Grady Judd has gained national attention for having the #1 ranked kill animal shelter in Florida
Florida currently ranks fourth in the nation for the number of animals euthanized. While many animal control agencies are on track to becoming no-kill shelters, there’s one county that has led the state in euthanization rates for at least three years now — that’s Polk County and Sheriff Grady Judd
The problem is Sheriff Grady Judd is an asshole and is power-hungry. And the Polk County Commissioners are afraid of him.
But Judd refuses to answer any questions about his animal services division, why?
“Cats kill birds – We kill cats”, is the motto of Polk County Animal Services.
Judd is running for reelection he’s raised:
| Contributions $302,640.53 | In-Kind $11,974.63 | Expenditures $579.71 |
It’s time to let the voters know about the real Grady Judd!!!!
Judd is also selling the dead cats, why is it because of the money or there is no room in the county dump next to the animal services buildings?
Cat cadavers go to Bio Corporation (a company that provides cadavers/specimens to educational institutions).
Bio Corporation pays $10 per cat cadaver to the PCSO. Which means thousands of dollars in the coffers of the PCSO.
Excerpt from FL Statute 823.15(1) Uncontrolled breeding results in the birth of many more puppies and kittens than are needed to provide pet animals to new owners or to replace pet animals that have died or become lost. This leads to many dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens being unwanted, becoming strays and suffering privation and death, being impounded and destroyed at great expense to the community, and constituting a public nuisance and public health hazard. It is therefore declared to be the public policy of the state that every feasible means be used to reduce the incidence of birth of unneeded and unwanted puppies and kittens. Determining which programs result in improved adoption rates and in reduced euthanasia rates for animals in shelters and animal control agencies is crucial to this effort.
Every feasible means be used to reduce the incidence of birth of unneeded and unwanted puppies and kittens.
But Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and his staff have refused to follow the law but they were happy to email the Lakeland Gazette the Florida Statute.
The FL Statute 823.15 even talks about Trapped, Neutered, Released (TNR) but Capt. Steven Horstman stated to the Lakeland Gazette that Polk County Animal Services will “Never have a TNR Program”.
There is a better way than killing – better for cats and better for Polk County.
But the answer is this……..
Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR for short, is the only humane and effective approach to addressing outdoor cat populations.
Through TNR, community cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered, vaccinated, ear-tipped for identification, and returned to their outdoor homes to live out their lives.
TNR is sound public policy. Scientific studies show that it effectively and humanely addresses the community cat population, reduces shelter intake and killing, and reduces calls to animal services, which saves taxpayer dollars.
Nearly half of the 67 counties in Florida have some sort of TNR program on the books. But not Polk County.
Scientific studies show that TNR ends the breeding cycle, meaning no new kittens are born outdoors while improving the lives and health of community cats. When cats are free from the burden of reproducing, their relationships improve with the people who live near them. And many diseases associated with reproduction, like cancer, are prevented.
Thousands of communities, including many in Florida, have embraced TNR at the grassroots level or as official government policy. It is popular because it works, in rural and urban settings, cold and warm climates, and everywhere in between. Polk County has an opportunity to truly engage with compassionate people in its community to protect cats, reduce outdoor cat populations, and improve neighborhoods countywide.
It’s An Easy Choice
People want to know their county has their back and is committed to forward-thinking, humane standards of care for animals. Polk County has the chance to choose this effective, nonlethal path forward. And it does not have to take the journey alone.
Polk County must realize that the public will never support killing cats in mass and that any solution must be based on proven science and reflect the values of the community.
How about this.. if people become responsible with their pets, they spay and neuter then we won’t have the over population that requires the hard choice of euthanasia!
Exactly.
Your statement is true, but not that many people have $400.00 to spend on spay neuter which is the going rate at a veterinarian. Polk County needs more reasonably priced spay neuter clinics including animal control.
It can be as low as 30$ sometimes 400$? Are you stupid?
How very, very sad and disgusting. I have lost respect for Grady Judd and Polk County Animal Services.
I will reach out to the SPCA and the Humane Society to see what , if anything, they are doing about this. Fine reputation for Polk County to be ranked 4th in nation for number of animals euthanized. SHAME on Grady Judd and the voters of Polk County.
Hate to tell you, the SPCA sends its dog and cats to Animal Control to be euthanized so they can continue to be a ‘no kill’ shelter.
So Sheriff Grady Judd won’t cave into these sniveling no kill wackos who would have, and do have, every shelter and animal control filled with pit bulls and feral cats. Which is it? Your guru Best Friends Animal Society says Sheriff Judd is great, but he won’t cave into the threats of hysterical pit bull and cat men and women including a veterinarian who apparently makes personal attacks when it doesn’t get its way! Get a life! Do your jobs and stop using Sheriff Judd as your scapegoat for failure!
well said!
Beth, I have known you and Merritt for over a decade, and I usually agree with your writings in Animals 24-7, but this comment confuses me. What do pit bulls in shelters have to do with community cat management? And if your quote, “including a veterinarian who apparently makes personal attacks when it doesn’t get its way,” is referring to me, well, I have news for you; I have nothing but the utmost respect for Sheriff Judd. Except when it comes to embracing (or, rather, not) TNVR programs. Sheriff Judd tacitly refuses to embrace the evidence that TNVR programs ARE effective at reducing the population of free-roaming cats, and as a result, the predation of wildlife—including the birds that Sheriff Judd so enjoys photographing. If you have a moment, please read “An Inconvenient Truth: Targeted TNR Enjoys a Track Record Unmatched by Lethal Methods for Managing Free-Roaming Cats,” (https://jsmcah.org/index.php/jasv/article/view/68) recently published in the Journal of Shelter Medicine and Community Animal Health. I call your attention to a quote from the article: “If not TNR, then what? The indiscriminate killing of healthy cats has been the default ‘management’ approach for more than 100 years in the US despite the lack of any evidence that it has been effective.” There is mounting evidence that targeted TNVR programs ARE effective at reducing the population of free-roaming cats. I just wish Sheriff Judd would realize that fewer cats mean fewer birds are preyed upon. How can you argue with something that IS both effective, AND more humane?
G. Robert Weedon, DVM, MPH
HQHVSN Surgeon
Polk City, FL
It may take a while to do this but I want to make sure all media outlets get Judd’s record on animals. People who don’t love animals have got some serious issues not those of us who love them. Never mind the mean responses people make on here. The mentality speaks volume’s!
The citizens of POLK COUNTY LOVE JUDD _ so take your article and shove it – apparently you are a woke liberal news reporter thatsupports the demoncrats and defund the police-why dont you go to Portland or San Fran and play there
SPCA Florida does NOT take animals to animal control to be euthanized.
Please publish facts.
I would be happy to provide you with a tour of our facility Johanna, and show you the extensive effort being made to save these animals.
Shelley Thayer
Executive Director
SPCA Florida
Direct line 863.577.4605
Bless your heart, are you sure?
It’s not Judd that is the problem. It’s irresponsible cat owners. They are running wild in my neighborhood too.
I lost a LOT of respect for Lakeland Gazette, which i formerly read daily. A hit piece on an effective sheriff is really beneath you, but as one one reader commented, you can always go to San Fran or Portland and be embraced by weird cat ladies there.
Cats breed like roaches, and are the most invasive species. Yes they will kill birds because they are hungry. It should be mandatory for all cat owners spay/neuter their cats due to the invasive nature of them– but I know this will never happen. The problem is mainly irresponsible humans who won’t spay/neuter their cats and let them breed as much as they like and not care what kind of environmental nuisance they are creating. I own three cats and they are fixed and 100% indoors–one is 17 years old. They all are very healthy and happy.
I
My family has adopted a cat colony . There were 3 colonies in our area and two stopped feeding so we were “chosen ” to help. We have spent thousands of dollars getting them “fixed” and the colony is slowly dwindling. The county has helped in at least 2instances, and NOT ONCE has anyone suggested euthanasia. If EVERYONE would be responsible for trap and release,the street population would decrease. BY THE WAY, NO ONE SHOULD EVER PUT A CAT ON THE STREET. Don’t think this one’s on Grady..
Ne