LAKELAND, Fla. — A new sign outside Polk County Animal Control has animal advocates worried it could cost countless dogs their lives.
The sign, prominently posted on the shelter’s front gate, reads simply: “WARNING BAD DOG.”
“It’s unavoidable,” said Rudie Ashley, shelter manager at the Lakeland-based Polk County Bully Project, which rescues many of the dogs that pass through county animal control. “People are going to get the wrong impression of dogs and stop going there to adopt them.”
WATCH: ‘Bad Dog’ sign at Polk County shelter sparks anger from animal advocates
Ashley says labeling all dogs as “bad” is misleading. She pointed to Trinity, a three-legged dog from the county shelter who’s now in her nonprofit’s care.
“She likes to give lots of kisses and is by no means a bad dog,” Ashley said.
Another rescue, a puppy named Limerick, is equally affectionate.
The concern comes as Polk County Animal Control faces ongoing scrutiny over its operations. According to University of Florida records, the county’s “Live Outcome Rate” in 2024 was 58 percent, which means 42 percent of animals taken in did not make it out alive.
Further records show 401 animals died while in the county’s care last year from causes other than euthanasia, and 564 escaped the shelter, most of them cats. In a previous report, Tampa Bay 28 documented a wide range of concerns voiced by an anonymous former employee and other animal advocates.
While Ashley is okay with the idea of a sign, she believes wording matters.
“It’s the verbiage that needs to change. ‘Beware of Dog.’ ‘Caution Dogs Here.’ Something,” she said.
In response to Tampa Bay 28’s questions about the sign, a spokesperson for the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the shelter, pointed to a 1949 Florida law that shields dog owners from liability if a “Bad Dog” sign is displayed.
A newer law addressing dangerous dogs was passed and approved by the governor this year. Sponsored by Rep. Judson Sapp (R-Clay County), it seeks to protect consumers from dogs with violent histories. It requires county shelters to “post signage on the dog's enclosure to inform potential adopters that the dog has been declared dangerous.”
In a phone call, Rep. Sapp said Polk County’s use of the warning sign doesn’t fit with the intent of his law.
“The new dangerous dogs law was written with the intent to label specific dogs as dangerous so that purchasers or adopters are aware of the risk. We did not intend for broad notification, but very targeted notification on dogs deemed dangerous after due process,” Rep. Sapp later wrote in a statement to Tampa Bay 28.
“We are aiming to protect Floridians from dogs who are known to be dangerous and hold owners of those dangerous dogs accountable,” he continued.
Advocates like Ashley fear the broad warning could make adoption rates even worse in a county already struggling to save animals.
“It hurts the cause,” she said.
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