A.G. Gancarski
Some dogs are more adoptable than others, due solely to their breeds. But when it comes to so-called “bully” dogs, Polk County looks poised for a little more help from the state.
House and Senate budget Chairs both propose spending $100,000 on the Polk County Bully Project, a nonprofit “rescue organization with a small shelter that works to find forever homes for this misunderstood breed,” which has a “goal of reducing euthanasia rates of these dogs in Polk County.”
Polk County’s shelter had as of 2022 the highest kill rate in the state. But due in part to the Bully Project’s efforts, pit bulls are rescue only and the county is looking to start a no kill shelter.
The GOP Rep. Sam Killebrew project “will provide funding to save more community dogs from euthanasia and help to keep dogs from ending up in the system,” per the appropriations request, which notes that the Bully Project “has saved almost half of the dogs coming out of Polk County Animal Control in the last two years.”
The money will go to vet and feeding costs, as well as an expansion of area for the dogs in the shelter, and the creation of a “safe space” for after hours surrender of animals.
6 comments
Tallahassee Tools
March 2, 2024 at 6:38 pm
$100k for dogs; here comes a Darwin Award 🥇
Real Meat For Local Wildlife
March 2, 2024 at 6:40 pm
Maybe we can feed them to the pythons that took over?
Fake meat was banned 🤷🏻♂️
ScienceBLVR
March 2, 2024 at 7:29 pm
Look live Canis Lupus Familiaris. There’s no bad dogs, just bad owners. Had a few pit mixes myself, always great dogs. Like to see this kind of project in other counties..
Petri Dish Peninsula
March 3, 2024 at 11:32 am
Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science
Richard Luscombe
in Miami
The state is in the grip of a measles outbreak, yet Joseph Ladapo, the surgeon general, continues to ignore medical science to stop it
Sun 3 Mar 2024 08.00 EST
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Shortly before Joseph Ladapo was sworn in as Florida’s surgeon general in 2022, the New Yorker ran a short column welcoming the vaccine-skeptic doctor to his new role, and highlighting his advocacy for the use of leeches in public health.
It was satire of course, a teasing of the Harvard-educated physician for his unorthodox medical views, which include a steadfast belief that life-saving Covid shots are the work of the devil, and that opening a window is the preferred treatment for the inhalation of toxic fumes from gas stoves.
man in a suit speaks at a podium, with people behind him
‘Not a disease you want to relive’: why is the US seeing outbreaks of measles?
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But now, with an entirely preventable outbreak of measles spreading across Florida, medical experts are questioning if quackery really has become official health policy in the nation’s third most-populous state.
As the highly contagious disease raged in a Broward county elementary school, Ladapo, a politically appointed acolyte of Florida’s far-right governor Ron DeSantis, wrote to parents telling them it was perfectly fine for parents to continue to send in their unvaccinated children.
“The surgeon general is Ron DeSantis’s lapdog, and says whatever DeSantis wants him to say,” said Dr Robert Speth, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at south Florida’s Nova Southeastern University with more than four decades of research experience.
“His statements are more political than medical and that’s a horrible disservice to the citizens of Florida. He’s somebody whose job is to protect public health, and he’s doing the exact opposite.”
Dont Say FLA
March 4, 2024 at 11:57 am
Not often I get to say this, but good for them. Florida’s state government done a good thing (for once).
American Bullies are laid back, kissy, snuggly cuddle bugs. Wonderful dogs. Different breed from pit bull. I’ve only known sweet pit bulls myself. Not dissing pit bulls. Pointing out these are different breeds, pit bulls and American Bullys.
That said, American Bullies are dense, strong and surprisingly fast. I wouldn’t keep a very small human around one lest the small human accidentally go flying like a bowling pin every so often and/or be accidentally smothered by a gargantuan tongue licking them for too long.
There’s always a risk when living side by side with any animal. I wouldn’t keep a chihuahua with a very small human either, but for a very different reason, risk (near guarantee, lol) of dog bite.
And with any dog, you must ask yourself could you and everyone in your household handle it if that dog were someday to lose its shit for whatever reason, including but not limited to some accident or internal issue that causes the dog some nontrivial amount of pain.
If you can’t handle your dog gone wild for some reason (or no reason, as is occasionally alleged by someone bitten, and is perhaps occasionally occasionally truly the case) , that is not the dog for you.
Becky Bywater
March 6, 2024 at 3:16 pm
Can you tell me if this bill made the final budget?
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