Friends and Supporters:
I’m working with a very courageous group of people who are committed to making Miami-Dade a safer place for our companion animals. As a rescuer and spay/neuter advocate I’ve hit every roadblock possible to finding a true solution to ending the 21,000+ deaths at Miami-Dade Animal Services each year. Each animal saved, each animal adopted is a miracle, but there is no way to adopt our way out of the overpopulation crisis. We need well-funded spay/neuter programs and substantial money for Animal Services to run properly.
With all of this said you may ask yourself what is the solution… there is one, and after working with homeless animals for 13 years I truly believe this is it. The Pets’ Trust group is working on legislation to create guaranteed funding for our animals through a small addition to property taxes. The Pets’ Trust would be set up like the Children’s Trust, which passed with 86% of the vote in 2008, during one of the most challenging economic times. As I’m sure only a few of you many realize, the Children’s Trust is on your property tax bill. Many of us pay over $100, $200 or more dollars per year for this, but no one minds and most people don’t even know they’re contributing. This guaranteed funding for the Children’s Trust helps our community support, educate and care for children. As tax payers we’re investing in kids and our community, which speaks volumes about Miami-Dade County. Why can’t we do this for our pets? The Pets’ Trust would be a line item on the average property tax bill of around $13. Imagine that for $13 per year Miami-Dade property owners will save hundreds of thousands of lives.
At this point in time I am not asking you to agree to this legislation, I’m asking you to sign a petition to show support of our right to VOTE! We must show our elected officials that we want the right to vote on the Pets’ Trust before it can be put on the ballot. This petition will be brought to the Board of County Commissioners in less than two weeks – we need your help!
Please SIGN and FORWARD this petition to everyone you know. This is the first step in a process that will ultimately save 400,000 LIVES in the next 20 years!
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twitter: @miamipetsalive @spayneutermiami
Please also see Miami Herald article here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/14/v-fullstory/2589775/miami-dade-pet-lovers-push-tax.html
