Images taken inside Polk County Animal Control are going viral after a local woman says the pictures she took show animals living in questionable conditions.
Natalie Scott, who considers herself an animal lover and advocate, says she visited the Polk County animal shelter in Winter Haven just before the July 4th holiday. She’s been back twice since then because she’s worried about the cats and kittens there.
Based upon the response to Scott’s social media posts, others share that concern as well.
Scott says she started snapping videos and pictures of what she describes as sweltering conditions at Polk Animal Control.
The video and photos show cats and kittens in their cages being inactive or panting.
Scott stated on Facebook – “This is Polk County Animal Control in Polk County Florida high euthanasia rate. This is the adoption area it’s over 100° outside they’re in a metal room with wide Open doors that almost look like a barn there’s no Air conditioning. The cats were not moving many kennels were lacking food or water. Kittens could not even get up to play. This is the adoption floor and it is heartbreaking. I went and did a walk-through in the holding area for lost and found. I tried to take pictures but the lady made me stop she told me I was not allowed to take pictures and video in that area. It is absolutely worse than this adoption area.. tons of mothers with babies little one-week-old babies laying on metal breathing heavily because of the heat couldn’t even crawl over to their mother. If police came on somebody’s property and found this it would be considered animal abuse and they would be arrested yet this is how our county treats cats. The worker had to take the pulse of several kittens in the holding area because nobody was moving and they just looked dead. Arms hanging out.”
The images on Scott’s social media pages were quickly shared by animal rights advocates.
“If you went in somebody’s backyard and they had a metal crate with either no blanket or filthy litter or no water, panting, lying flat, ice glazed over, what would we do?” said Scott. “We would call animal control and they would be served with animal abuse papers. So why is it OK over there?”
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office, which operates animal control, released a statement in response:
“The social media post regarding Polk County Animal Control is complete fiction, and we are outraged with this woman’s bald-faced lies. Our cats and dogs are housed in a kennel with thousands of square feet, a very high ceiling, huge fans, and a ventilation system, and all of the animals have food, water, and shelter, as well as an on-site veterinarian. There were not, and are not, any cats in distress. Our Animal Control staff members are singularly focused on providing medical support and tender loving care to the pets in our facility, with the goal of finding each and every one of them a loving home. Perhaps the woman who was so concerned about the cats she saw there should have focused more on adopting them than trying to ‘go viral’ on social media with her lies.”
The sheriff’s office says the buildings at the shelter have never been air-conditioned, but there are fans in the kennel hallways to keep animals cool.
At least one person commenting on Scott’s post said they had reached out to PETA — which promised to look into it.
Scott says she has also heard from animal rescue groups willing to adopt some of the animals, while others are now planning an organized protest.
Scott says she’s already applied to take two of the cats home.