LAKELAND, Fla. — Animals in shelters are being killed because there isn't enough space for them -- even here in Tampa Bay.
Polk County is at the top of the list for killing animals in the state of Florida, according to Denise Deisler, the CEO of the Jacksonville Humane Society. Nationwide data, she says, ranks the county sixth in the U.S.
After having to euthanize nearly 8,000 of the 15,000 pets they took in last year, county officials are starting their journey to becoming a no-kill county.
"We are just wanting to get animals out to homes. I mean if we didn't have to euthanize any animals at all that would be the perfect world! It would be Utopia," Carrie Horstman with the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.
Polk County Animal Control and the Best Friends Animal Society are transporting some animals to another shelter miles away.
"We had a very unique opportunity to have eight dogs and 10 cats transported to our Best Friends Lifesaving Center in Atlanta from the Polk County Animal Services," the regional manager for Best Friends Animal Society said.
Tiffany Deaton says the animals being transported have a new chance of life, while those that remain in at the county's full capacity shelter wait to be adopted.
"Polk is one of the animal centers in Florida that struggles the most with animals dying in their care, but that's a community issue that we need to help them with," Deaton said.
To put the issue in perspective, both Polk and Hillsborough counties took in more than 15,000 animals in 2019. Polk euthanized 8,000 while Hillsborough killed nearly 1,500.
"We stepped in just to help to get these dogs out because we know what a problem it is getting these dogs out of here," Keyla Francisco said.
Francisco is a coordinator at a local rescue. She's driving the pets from Polk County to Atlanta. She says the trip is just the start to county officials doing all they can to educate the community and save more animals.
"I've done this my whole life and I love them. It makes it hard knowing that they die, but today is like happy tears. It really is happy tears," Francisco said.
Polk County Animal Control says you can help them as well. They encourage you to spay and neuter your pets. You can also volunteer at the shelter, and foster or adopt pets. The more they get out their doors, the less overcrowding they'll have.
RELATED: 'There's nowhere for them to go': Animal advocates push for no-kill shelters amid overcrowding
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