Multiple residents urged the Polk County Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 21 to expand animal-control services, reinstate volunteer programs and adopt policy changes such as trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) and restrictions on backyard breeding.

Speakers described a range of concerns including shelter conditions, limited public-facing information on the county’s animal-control website, the absence of a county-run spay/neuter program, and the discontinuation of the volunteer program. Several speakers said they had attempted to engage the Polk County Sheriff’s Office animal-control staff but received no substantive responses.

Becky Bywater, who said she compared animal-control services across Florida’s 10 most populous counties, told commissioners that Polk ranked poorly on several measures including spay/neuter programming and tethering ordinances. “Out of the 10, Polk is the only one that offers no services to that effect,” she said.

Eve Salambini and Kaye Bork both cited TNVR programs in nearby counties. Salambini said Hillsborough County performs about 2,200 TNVR surgeries a year and that larger volumes — 4,000 to 5,000 annually — are needed to see significant reductions in kitten intake and euthanasia. “Their euthanasia rate has dropped by 2,200,” she said of Hillsborough’s program, urging Polk County to consider scaling TNVR.

Several speakers described operational problems at the county shelter. Betty Jean Amarel said she learned the county’s volunteer program had been discontinued and that much of the day-to-day shelter work was being done by inmates through a jail labor program. Kristen Alberg said she toured the shelter and described warm, crowded conditions and limited ventilation.

Ailey Vander Bush and others compared Polk’s animal-control budget to Orange County’s and said Polk’s published materials lacked operational detail and did not clearly show revenues or program spending. Vander Bush said Polk’s budget materials took longer to obtain via public records and that some requested breakdowns were missing.

Speakers asked the board to engage with the sheriff’s animal-control leadership, consider ordinance changes (including TNVR and restrictions on backyard breeding), restore volunteer opportunities and increase transparency in budgeting and operations. Commissioners and staff acknowledged the comments; no board action was taken at the meeting on animal-control policy.