{"id":57276,"date":"2025-08-14T16:41:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T20:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=57276"},"modified":"2025-08-14T16:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T20:41:08","slug":"polk-county-legislators-hear-animal-welfare-pleas-and-funding-requests-in-annual-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2025\/08\/14\/polk-county-legislators-hear-animal-welfare-pleas-and-funding-requests-in-annual-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Polk County legislators hear animal welfare pleas and funding requests in annual meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Disappointed with their reception within Polk County, animal advocates addressed their arguments to a higher authority: members of the Florida Legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Polk legislative delegation’s annual public meeting, a parade of residents implored the lawmakers to help them change conditions at the Polk County Animal Shelter and establish a trap, neuter, vaccinate, and return program for \u201ccommunity cats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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All six of Polk\u2019s legislators attended the Aug. 12 meeting, held in the Polk County Commission boardroom: Sen. Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula; Sen. Colleen Burton, R-Lakeland; Rep. Jon Albert, R-Frostproof; Rep. Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland; Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, R-Lakeland; and Rep. Josie Tomkow, R-Polk City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 legislation session begins Jan. 13. The pre-session gathering occurred earlier than usual, as lawmakers will be occupied with committee meetings throughout the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting, an invitation for local officials and citizens to share concerns, suggest legislation, and request funding for specific projects, drew fewer speakers than in previous years and lasted only two of the allotted four hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As is their custom, legislators mostly sat silently after their opening introductions and listened to speakers, who were limited to three minutes each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least nine of the nearly 50 speakers raised concerns about the Polk County Animal Shelter and the policies of the Animal Control division, operated by the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of those advocates had previously spoken at meetings of the Polk County Commission. One of them, Saralyn Smith of Lakeland, recalled having Commissioner Bill Braswell tell them that the panel has no authority over Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smith, representing Animal Defenders of Polk County, said she found that statement perplexing. The County Commission determines the annual budget for the Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State guidelines on outdoor cats?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Animal advocates criticized Polk County Animal Control for its euthanasia rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the meeting, Scott Wilder, a spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff\u2019s Office, cited the University of Florida\u2019s Shelter Animal Census Data from 2023, showing Polk with 11,419 live releases of dogs and cats, the eighth-highest total in the state. The chart listed Polk\u2019s live outcome rate at 65%, below the state average of 83%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speakers lamented that Judd will not consider implementing a trap, neuter, vaccinate and return program as a means to reduce reproduction among free-roaming cats, sometimes called community cats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polk City resident Robert Weedon, a veterinarian and retired faculty member of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, asked lawmakers to consider legislation \u201cthat would offer statewide protection and guidance for the management of feral and free-roaming cats, known more broadly as community cats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weedon cited a Brevard County ordinance allowing registered cat colonies to be established and maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the opposite end of the spectrum is Polk County, where not only are TNVR programs discouraged, but they are also actively opposed by Polk County Animal Control and Sheriff Grady Judd,\u201d Weedon said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheriff\u2019s PIO Mr. Wilder confirmed that Judd opposes such programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeral cats are invasive and negatively affect wildlife, especially wild birds,\u201d he said by email. \u201cTNR colonies attract more intact cats (that continue to breed) because of the food provided to these colonies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feral and roaming cats suffer predation by coyotes and other animals, are killed by traffic and die of disease and untreated injuries, Wilder said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tina Brennan praised Judd as \u201ca wonderful lawman\u201d but said that he seems to be prejudiced against cats. She and others alleged that there is a lack of transparency in Animal Control\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere, we are basically running a slaughterhouse, and it’s a slaughterhouse without transparency because we’re not allowed to have, as you already know, cell phones or cameras in Animal Control,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilder has previously said that the Sheriff\u2019s Office does not allow phones with cameras in secure areas but allows photography in public areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patricia Kirby of Clearwater told legislators of the improvements Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have made in their rates of live outcomes at animal shelters. Before adopting a TNVR program, the only option in Pinellas for feral cats was euthanasia, she said, something that affected the mental health of employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polk County Animal Control adopted out more than 6,200 animals and spayed and neutered over 6,000 cats and dogs in 2024, Wilder said. He noted that Judd has created a spay and neuter fund and formed a partnership with SPCA Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a rare moment of a legislator responding to an address, Burton asked Patricia Kirby if she was working with the Polk County Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou are aware that we are not the Polk County Commission?\u201d Burton asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I am aware of that,\u201d Kirby replied. \u201cBut I know that you\u2019re on a state level and you have power.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disappointed with their reception within Polk County, animal advocates addressed their arguments to a higher authority: members of the Florida Legislature. During the Polk legislative delegation’s annual public meeting, a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNVwvMDhcL1BvbGstQ291bnR5LWxlZ2lzbGF0b3JzLndlYnA_Zml0PTY2MCUyQzM5MyZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IlBvbGsgQ291bnR5IGxlZ2lzbGF0b3JzIGhlYXIgYW5pbWFsIHdlbGZhcmUgcGxlYXMgYW5kIGZ1bmRpbmcgcmVxdWVzdHMgaW4gYW5udWFsIG1lZXRpbmciLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.shDjiVaddJg1g1LYpZzjniqwQTcf_uB7Oh8eo3N2rusMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":57277,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Polk-County-legislators.webp","type":"image\/webp"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[11983],"class_list":["post-57276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-polk-county-legislators-hear-animal-welfare-pleas-and-funding-requests-in-annual-meeting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57276"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57278,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57276\/revisions\/57278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}