Community raises concerns about Clewiston Animal Services

Concerns have flooded social media about conditions at the Clewiston Animal Services.

In a recent Clewiston City Commission meeting, several people showed up to voice concerns about the shelter conditions and share examples of negligence.

Maranda Wyatt, a dog rescuer who attended the meeting and started a Facebook page against the shelter, told WINK, “The dogs are in conditions I literally cannot even describe. They are emaciated. They are not vetted. They don’t have a vet on staff.”

Kathy Irey, who used to volunteer at Clewiston Animal Services, also expressed concerns.

“It was about the cleanliness. It was about the cats not being taken care of. They needed room to run. They had nothing to run,” said Irey. “They were packing them in, not aware of the fact that there were actually animals that were dying on their property and everything.”

WINK News reporter Amy Galo visited the shelter to speak with Clewiston Police Chief Tom Lewis, who operates the shelter.

Lewis acknowledged some issues.

“If you come back at seven o’clock tomorrow morning, it will not be clean, right? We don’t have staff that here 24 hours a day. So when we come in in the morning, dogs have messed in their kennel.”

The shelter, which became a no-kill shelter in 2021, is a small operation with limited staff.

“Currently, we have about three and a half staff members, three full-time and one part-time,” explained Lewis.

Despite the staff shortage, Lewis highlighted improvements made with donations, including new playpens, air-conditioned kennels and automatic feeders.

“Facility-wise, I mean, it’s the bomb, you know?” said Irey. “But I’ve learned it takes more than that. It’s not until somebody’s in there who actually has a heart for them and understands what you have to do and learns what you have to do to keep them happy and healthy. If you don’t have that, then the other stuff happens.”

Stuff that Irey explained breaks trust with local rescues which could take in animals from the overcrowded Clewiston Animal Services.

“A lot of this stuff with the overcrowding has been self-inflicted,” said Irey. “It’s a gamble. They (rescues) don’t know what they’re getting. There have been rescues that have come and were not aware that they were getting Parvo puppies, and when a rescue gets a Parvo pup, that means everything that they have is on lockdown. They can’t even adopt out.”

But Lewis maintains the animals are not neglected.

“We do have the occasional incident, like every other shelter does, but all of those things are addressed,” said Lewis. “We are small. We have a very low budget, but the reality is, all of the animals are well cared for.”

Irey thinks it’s not just an issue of being short-staffed.

“I volunteered there for years, and there were only two animal control officers back then,” said Irey. “That was it. But the facility was taken care of. They have more than enough staff there to take care of what they have.”

WINK News reached out to the Department of Agriculture for records on any complaints filed on the Clewiston Animal Services. As soon as those are received, an update will be provided.