Florida's Animal Welfare Nightmare No One Wants to Talk About

Veterinary care remains underfunded:
Despite ongoing reports of medical neglect, contracted veterinary services in 2023–24 received only $113,773, a small fraction of the $4.6M total budget—and less than 3% of the funds.

Animal food and medications were cut:
Spending on animal food, meds, and supplies dropped by over $14,000 from the budgeted amount in 2023–24, even as the shelter faced severe overcrowding and medical neglect.

Salaries dominate the budget:
Over $4.2 million—nearly 91% of the total budget in 2023–24—was allocated to salaries and benefits, while direct animal care services remained severely under-resourced.

Training and oversight are minimal:
Just $4,336 was spent on training in 2023–24, showing no increase from the previous year, despite a documented need for better shelter management and staff accountability.

IT and software systems received less than $800:
Polk allocated only $789 to software, data systems, and IT services in 2023–24—barely enough to maintain records in a shelter that lost track of hundreds of animals.

No investment in transparency or communication:
With only $166 allocated to printing and binding, there is virtually no budget dedicated to public transparency, reporting, or outreach materials.

Utilities were so mismanaged they show a negative spend:
The 2023–24 budget shows – $170.50 under utilities—raising questions about accounting accuracy and operational oversight.