As a dedicated dog trainer with over 20 years of experience, I am deeply committed to ensuring the best possible facilities for our community's dogs in Florida. The recent attempt to expand our local animal shelter with prefabricated dog kennels has fallen short of the mark, and it is my duty to advocate for a change. Our current setup is failing to meet the needs of both the animals and the staff.

Manatee County is in a shelter crisis.
Our shelters are at or near capacity, and local rescues report long waitlists for owner surrenders. One nearby shelter recently had 59 dogs on its waitlist, about half needing medical care. At the same time, the County is preparing to spend around $12 million on a shelter project built largely around 8 prefab kennel buildings that are already proving inadequate.

These prefab structures:
Don’t provide indoor, weather‑protected access for staff and adopters
Don’t offer covered, secure outdoor yards directly off kennels
Don’t include proper hurricane‑safe areas for staff
Don’t support efficient daily operations or realistic capacity needs
For this level of investment, Manatee County can and should do better.
Based on decades of real‑world experience in dog handling, training, and facility design, a single, integrated, purpose‑built facility with a capacity of about 200 dogs could:
Give staff and adopters indoor, climate‑controlled access to all dogs
Provide covered, secure exercise yards off each kennel wing
Offer clear visibility of dogs for adopters, speeding up adoptions
Include storm‑ready, safe spaces for staff and animals
Support humane staffing ratios (at least 1 staff per 10 dogs, ideally 1 per 5)
Pay staff at a true living wage (about $38/hour for a Florida worker with a child) so we can retain experienced people instead of burning them out

A modern integrated facility like this could realistically be built for approximately $3.5–$8 million, depending on final design and materials—far less than the ~$12 million currently being spent on a less functional prefab‑based model.

This facility should be part of a bigger plan that also:
Expands spay/neuter and educationin schools and the community
Promotes ethical breeders and reduces puppy‑mill/backyard breeder pipelines
Builds owner support and behavior help (with partners like Top Tier K9) so fewer dogs are surrendered
Strengthens local rescues and increases public exposure for adoptable dogs
We, the undersigned, call on the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners to:
Halt the current prefab‑based shelter project and suspend further major expenditures.

Form a Shelter Facility & Crisis Task Force that includes Animal Services, rescues, veterinarians, ethical breeders, experienced shelter‑facility designers, Top Tier K9, and community advocates.
Design a new, integrated ~200‑dog facility with humane staffing and living‑wage pay, in the realistic cost range of $3.5–$8 million, and align it with a broader plan for education, ethical supply, and owner support.

Engage the public transparently, sharing designs, costs, and timelines and reporting annually on shelter intake, euthanasia, and outcomes.

Manatee County has a choice: spend $12 million on an inadequate prefab solution, or invest in a smart, humane, hurricane‑ready facility and prevention plan that will actually move us out of crisis.
We urge our Commissioners to choose the second path.