{"id":68547,"date":"2026-06-02T15:58:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T19:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=68547"},"modified":"2026-06-02T23:51:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T03:51:33","slug":"letter-serious-polk-county-animal-control-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/06\/02\/letter-serious-polk-county-animal-control-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter: SERIOUS POLK COUNTY ANIMAL CONTROL MATTER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I hope this message finds you well. I am writing an official complaint to bring to your attention some significant concerns I have about a recent unacceptable adoption experience at the Polk County Animal Shelter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently, I adopted a Dalmatian from your shelter on 5\/26\/26, ANIMAL ID # A1267396 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While I am grateful to have this dog as part of my family, the process and the subsequent health issues have raised some serious concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I initially contacted the shelter about adopting the Dalmatian, I was informed that he was available and could be taken home the same day. However, upon my arrival at the shelter, after over an hour drive there, I was unexpectedly informed that due to an upcoming adoption event at the strawberry festival fair grounds, the dog would not be allowed to be adopted by me that day and would be sent to the adoption event for someone else to adopt him there. No one could give me the day he would be there. This was not only completely senseless and confusing but also frustrating to both me and the other customers in the waiting area, especially since I had driven a considerable distance and confirmed he\u2019d be available for adoption, the dog was already showing signs of \u201chappy tail\u201d and I would think the shelter would have the animals best interest at heart, as in getting him adopted to the correct home\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, after finally being able to bring the dog home, thanks to me knowing a long standing employee there, it became apparent that he had significant health issues, including a cough which was noticeable the second we left the shelter. He began vomiting and became extremely lethargic.  Unfortunately, my vet discovered the dog has pneumonia and parvovirus, which I am now spending a significant amount of money just hoping he survives. While I understand that I signed a waiver acknowledging responsibility for the dog\u2019s health after adoption. I believe the shelter could have taken more precautionary measures\u2014such as a quarantine period after he was returned by a previous adopter\u2014to ensure that he was healthy before placing him back up for adoption. This has caused exposure to my other dogs and furthermore has infested my house for at least the next year. This shelter is supposed to be a trusted staple in our community with the dogs best interest in mind. I am quite disappointed in your staff and procedures for protecting these dogs and the adoptive parents other resident dogs. Trusting the shelter, I took him to families house who also have dogs. So now they also are on high alert. I am also having to explain this whole thing to both my young children ages 5 and 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, I also contacted the animal control around 10:30am on Saturday 5\/30\/26 to inform them of the situation with the dog I adopted so  that they can take proper precautions. It was my understanding that  there was no worry to quarantine any animals or stop any of the major adoptions that took place on Saturday at the strawberry festival fair ground which may have infected dogs at the facilities who joined you, other dogs who were adopted, and their family which is very concerning for anyone who adopted a dog that may have been exposed. As well as the family who originally adopted this dog and brought him back to your shelter, were they contacted and informed their other pet may have been exposed? This is a very serious illness in which dogs may loose their life over. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My entire experience with this shelter has been absolutely awful. I believe there has been much negligence at this shelter. This Dalmation should have been quarantined with this awful cough originally and re-vetted after his first adopted returned him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not expect any help from you all with this situation. What I am expecting is to raise awareness to those in charge of this facility. I understand the kennel is over whelmed with dogs and cats but this is unacceptable from the way I was told I couldn\u2019t adopt a dog that\u2019s on adoption isle because he\u2019s going to an event to be adopted instead to now knowing he had pneumonia in your kennel and then Parvo is the cherry on top. I am disgusted to say the least. The Polk County Sheriff\u2019s office investigates and ultimately puts people in jail for negligently selling sick dogs but yet here we are with our own \u201ctrusted\u201d shelter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am so glad I was able to adopt this dog out of your facility and save his life because clearly animal control was not capable of giving him the care, compassion, and due diligence this dog deserved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sincerely, a concerned animal advocate, Sarah <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dalmatian is now passed\u2026. I am out over $1300 in vet bills, plus adoption fees, supplies, etc. I have two young kids to explain why their \u201cMarshall\u201d ( paw patrol inspired) is now dead. My kids are 3 years old and 5 years old. I am livid. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing an official complaint to bring to your attention some significant concerns I have about a recent unacceptable adoption experience at… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyMVwvMDRcL0xFVFRFUi1UTy1USEUtRURJVE9SLmpwZz9maXQ9MTAyNCUyQzU3NiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkxldHRlcjogU0VSSU9VUyBQT0xLIENPVU5UWSBBTklNQUwgQ09OVFJPTCBNQVRURVIiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.EgFC_vUNvAGMkviVco8_u4uR8aZFfp7BphuYc5j72B8MQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyMVwvMDRcL0xFVFRFUi1UTy1USEUtRURJVE9SLmpwZz9maXQ9MTAyNCUyQzU3NiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkxldHRlcjogU0VSSU9VUyBQT0xLIENPVU5UWSBBTklNQUwgQ09OVFJPTCBNQVRURVIiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImRvaXMiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.EgFC_vUNvAGMkviVco8_u4uR8aZFfp7BphuYc5j72B8MQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[14752],"class_list":["post-68547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letters","tag-letter-serious-polk-county-animal-control-matter"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68547","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=68547"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68602,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68547\/revisions\/68602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}