PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – The Animal Welfare League (AWL) of Putnam County is encouraging residents to give input on how to ensure that animal welfare laws, regulations, and ordinances are fully enforced in the area.
The animal nonprofit put out an online survey to ask residents what they believe are the most important issues regarding animal welfare and improvements they would like to see.
According to Diane Kelley, the leadership team will soon begin working with county leaders to ensure animal welfare laws and regulations are fully enforced, adding that while there has been some progress, there is still work to be done.
“What we’re doing is focusing on how do we improve animal welfare overall in the county? and that includes the safety of people as it relates to the impact from animals,” she said.
Kelley said so far, around 120 people have filled out the survey and submitted responses.
“About 89% of respondents said that they do not believe that animal welfare laws and regulations are adequately enforced in our county, and the reason why they say that is because they see too much actions or inactions going on that they have tried to raise, to no avail,” Kelley said.
In the responses Kelley shared with News4JAX, some included people saying they would call animal control to report something, however, they sometimes wouldn’t get a response.
Kelley said her organization wants people to know that when that happens, they don’t give up.
It’s why they created these steps.
Click here to fill out the survey.
In late April, the Florida House passed a new bill aimed at creating a dog registry and requiring owners of those dogs to have $100,000 in liability insurance on Wednesday.
The bill is called the “Pam Rock Act” and is named after a 62-year-old mail carrier who was mauled by several dogs in Putnam County.
