{"id":60715,"date":"2026-01-06T03:18:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=60715"},"modified":"2026-01-06T03:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T08:44:30","slug":"trap-neuter-and-release-polk-sheriffs-office-calls-it-a-terrible-idea-but-are-they-really-telling-the-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/01\/06\/trap-neuter-and-release-polk-sheriffs-office-calls-it-a-terrible-idea-but-are-they-really-telling-the-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"Trap, neuter and release? Polk Sheriff’s Office calls it a ‘terrible idea’, but are they really telling the truth?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For more than three years<\/u><\/em><\/strong>, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office has taken a deluge of criticism for the way it runs Animal Control. It started with https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2023\/05\/16\/why-isnt-sheriff-grady-judd-not-listening-to-the-facts-about-tnr-but-he-murders-1000s-of-cats-every-year-for-the-money\/<\/a> in May 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Polk Sheriff’s Office has been mightily pissed off about all the articles the Lakeland Gazette<\/em> has written on this subject. The Sheriff ordered an officer to go to the owner\u2019s home and ask how he was. This was a form of intimidation by Grady Judd, but it did not work! HaHa Grady<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activists have complained\u00a0to the\u00a0County Commission\u00a0and\u00a0state legislators\u00a0about conditions at Polk County Animal Control, the facility’s high kill rate, and the Sheriff’s Office’s refusal to implement a trap-neuter-release program for feral cats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The activists argue that TNR programs are the only humane method of controlling cat populations in the wild.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TNR is a non-lethal<\/strong> technique for managing unowned, free-roaming cats. The cats are humanely trapped, spayed or neutered by a licensed veterinarian, ear-tipped (the universal sign that they have been sterilized), and returned to where they were trapped.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Since January 2018, more than 40,000 cats and dogs have been euthanized at Polk County Animal Control. In 2024 alone, the county killed more than 5,000 \u2013 100 a week on average.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Florida Statute 828.12<\/strong> defines and penalizes animal cruelty<\/strong>, making it illegal to unnecessarily overload, torment, deprive of sustenance\/shelter, or mutilate\/kill animals<\/strong>, classifying it as a first-degree misdemeanor with fines up to $5,000, but also includes provisions for aggravated cruelty (felony) involving intentional torture<\/strong>, leading to mandatory fines and counseling, and allows courts to ban offenders from owning animals, with recent laws (Dexter\u2019s Law) adding a public database for convicted abusers starting in 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Provisions of Florida Statute 828.12<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n