BRONSON, Fla. (WCJB) – The Levy County Animal Services building is deemed unsafe for humans. Staff members are asking for help getting all the dogs adopted or sent to rescues.
Seven out of the 64 dogs at Levy County Animal Services will be euthanized Thursday morning if no one commits to adopting them.
At the end of October, officials from the University of Florida’s Shelter Medicine Program conducted a full review of the shelter operations at Levy County Animal Services.
Rod Hastings, the animal services manager, was put on leave following a series of complaints. Mosquito Control Director Matt Weldon is now the interim director.
“We’re working hard for the best well-being of the dogs out here and if anybody can help in any way, if you know a rescue that’s willing to take some of these dogs, we’d be glad to have them,” said Weldon.
The office building has mold, dead animals, and feces in the attic. Weldon says he’s not sure how long this has been a problem, but it was discovered when radios were requested for the animal control officers.
Following the review of shelter operations, Weldon and the animal services staff implemented changes including feeding the animals twice a day, establishing euthanasia and shelter hour policies that comply with Florida State Statutes, and creating written sanitation procedures.
Volunteers saw a Facebook post about seven dogs possibly being euthanized due to behavior issues and came to evaluate them.
“We had some dogs that had been here for months and we basically felt like, through our evaluation, were unadoptable to the general public,” said Matt Weldon. “We’ve been looking for rescues to take them, and so today we had a volunteer come out that’s a behavioral specialist evaluating some of the dogs for us.”
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The health department says the building is unsafe. County officials say it will cost around $85,000 to decontaminate the building.
A temporary office trailer will be delivered on Friday. County commissioners have waived all adoption fees.
An animal services strategic planning workshop will be held on Tuesday at 1 p.m. to address some of the current issues.
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