JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville Councilman Rory Diamond said the city has “criminally underfunded animal control” for years.
That’s why he now plans to propose a bill to increase funding for Animal Care and Protective Services that would add 14 new employees.
Diamond said Friday that more than half of the calls the city gets about stray dogs or dogs that have been left out in the heat are going unanswered.
“The purpose of this bill is to get animal control officers, to get people to wash the dogs and clean the kennels, and then to get folks that we can get the dogs out so they can actually get adopted and find their forever homes,” Diamond said.
Diamond said he hears from people who said they called animal control to report an issue but no one showed up to help.
“We can’t be a city that does that,” he said.
Tomorrow I’m pushing for an effort to protect animals in Jacksonville.
— Rory Diamond (@RoryDiamond) August 22, 2024
We haven’t ever properly protected animals in our community, and it’s time.
Too many dogs and cats are left in abusive situations, tied up, or left on the side of the road.
Let’s go. pic.twitter.com/VSKqVQpfbn
Diamond spent eight years as the Chief Executive Officer of K9s For Warriors, the nation’s largest trained Service Dog provider to military veterans suffering from service-related trauma, until he stepped down in 2022 to focus on his military service and city council.