Animal Advocate’s Siesta Key Swim Spotlights Manatee County Shelter Concerns

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — Although a June 3 open-water swim around Siesta Key organized by Bradenton animal advocate Julie Madison ended early because of weather conditions, she said that the effort was still a success.

The swim was designed to raise awareness and keep public attention focused on local activists’ concerns surrounding the Bishop Animal Shelter facility in Manatee County, which will come before the Board of County Commissioners again for discussion on Tuesday, she told Patch.

Madison, an endurance swimmer and owner of Top Tier in Bradenton, attempted the full circumnavigation of Siesta Key, intending to complete the first ratifiable swim of the barrier island under Marathon Swimming Federation standards.

She entered the water around 11 p.m. on June 3 and swam into the early morning hours, until the weather got too bad for her to continue.

“Unfortunately, I wound up having to call it short. We wound up having some major issues with weather,” Madison said. “I did, I believe it was like 13 miles, and I wound up getting pulled out pretty much just about 2 miles short of the northern Siesta Key Bridge due to hypothermia.”

Her swim attempt connects to concerns raised by animal advocates, including Madison, about the Bishop Animal Shelter and the county’s long-term planning for animal welfare facilities.

“This swim is about keeping attention on the animals, the staff, the volunteers and the rescue community that work every day under difficult conditions,” she said. “Our county continues to grow, and many advocates believe we need solutions that are safer, more functional, and better equipped for Florida’s realities as the current facility is not equipped to meet the needs of the community.”

The Bishop Animal Shelter, intended to serve as the county’s primary hub for animal care, treatment, and enrichment, reopened in December after a $12 million expansion.

Madison said that the shelter’s new prefabricated kennel setup is inadequate for long-term use and said advocates want the site evaluated for safety and functionality. They also have concerns about capacity, layout, storm readiness and basic operations at the facility.

Her biggest concern is the size of the prefab kennels, which only offer a 37-inch-by-54-inch air-conditioned space for dogs staying at the facility, she said.

“It’s not a lot,” Madison said. “They literally, each dog, has about the size of a crate that’s air-conditioned, and then the rest of the space, for the most part, is outdoors.”

Capacity is another concern for animal advocates in the county. Because of how the facility is laid out, it takes staff much longer to complete tasks, she said.

“So every single basic standard operating procedure takes four times as long,” according to Madison, who added, “So, right now even though they say they have 120 kennels … because of the layout, they’ve been kind of capping their capacity at 50.”

Advocates have been appearing before commissioners and sharing their concerns for the past six months, since the Bishop reopened.

“Now, Commissioner [Bob] McCann has actually motioned for them to remove the prefabs to evaluate the site, and then to plan for what we need appropriately,” Madison said.

A discussion on the matter is set for Tuesday’s commission meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. Madison encourages the public to attend and share their thoughts about the new facility.

A newly formed Animal Citizens Advisory Board will also meet on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at the County Administration Building, in the Dolphin Room on the fifth floor. The shelter will also be discussed at this meeting.

As for the Siesta Key swim, Madison said she plans to make another attempt to complete the endeavor.

But for now, her broader goal is public involvement.

“No matter what people are doing, no matter what they care about. I want them to show up and get involved,” Madison said. “That goes for the swim, and that goes for the Bishop Animal Shelter.”