Breaking News2023 has been a disappointment
Since 2011 we’ve been working to get the Pets’ Trust Plan implemented. A combination of events in 2023 gave us reason to hope that we had a good chance for an October 1, 2023 start date. Sadly, it was only false hope.
The year started with Doug Hanks’ extensive multi-page report on conditions at the Animal Shelter. That press helped convince Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins to invite Michael Rosenberg to speak to the BCC on March 7th, and later in that same meeting, Commissioner Cohen Higgins led the BCC in a much overdue discussion on animal welfare. A few months later, Commissioner Raquel Regalado spoke at a Kendall Federation Town Hall meeting where she promised to support the Pets’ Trust. The Animal Services department was in the news again when its director was suspended (while this suspension is not directly related to the Pets’ Trust Plan, any news stories related to the plight of stray animals adds pressure to the BCC). Later, the overload of animals in the Doral shelter caused the County to put some animals in the old Medley facility, which angered enough animal rights activists to organize a peaceful protest. It seemed there was a lot of focus on animals and some Commissioners were noticing.
While Rita Schwartz was organizing a rally to be held outside County Hall hours before the September 7th BCC budget meeting, we were blindsided by crippling lies from The Miami Herald and a local politician whose husband is a leading community veterinarian. These were the same lies created by greedy veterinarians to kill the Pets’ Trust Plan in 2013. Regardless, the rally was well attended and filled the Commission Chamber with about 80 red-shirted supporters, many of whom spoke their one-minute opinions to the Commissioners.
But nothing happened. We’ve been told that Commissioner Kionne McGhee took over ownership of the Pets’ Trust legislation from termed-out Commissioner Sally Heyman, and he is perversely using an arcane BCC rule to block other Commissioners from discussing the Plan, let alone moving it forward. Weeks earlier, Commissioner Regalado had asked Commissioner McGhee for a Sunshine Meeting to discuss the legislation, but Commissioner McGhee ignored her request. Why Commissioner McGhee promised he would support the Pets’ Trust while he was campaigning, and now he uses his position to block its progress is confounding. Similarly, Mayor Cava made similar promises, which she continues to ignore.
The final budget meeting for the County’s next fiscal year was held today, September 21, 2023. The Pets’ Trust Plan was not funded. Our best hope for funding is now another year away.
We are disappointed as the BCC’s inaction allows more stray, homeless and abandoned animals to reproduce at an alarming rate. Animals keep suffering on our watch. God help the animals. God bless the rescue groups who toil and sacrifice daily for the animals.
Don’t miss our BLOG with recent stories. Click here.
The Pets’ Trust plan was never implemented
The Pets’ Trust Plan to focus on reducing the county’s stray animal population that was approved by voters on November 6, 2012 still has not been implemented!
The Pets’ Trust plan is all about preventing stray animals from reproducing. Yes, our beloved and cared for pets need access to low-cost sterilization surgeries, but the main focus needs to be on homeless and abandoned animals.
Almost 500,000 people—65% of the voters agreed to a small property tax increase averaging only $20 per year per house for only four years to fund a comprehensive set of activities, mostly focused on increasing spaying and neutering surgeries on pets and stray animals from about 20,000 per year to 100,000 per year. Watch how our elected officials reneged on their promises and snubbed us. They said we didn’t know what we were voting for. Lied to by local veterinarians and 
led by then Mayor Carlos Gimenez (now US Congressman Gimenez) the following eight County Commissioners Voted NO on July 16, 2013 rejecting the voters’ wishes. Our legislators simply didn’t honor their previous promises. They didn’t honor the votes of our community.
It’s not too late. Please contact our current Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava and your County Commissioner and tell them to implement the Pets’ Trust plan now. Please make these two calls or send two emails in an effort to reduce the needless suffering of stray animals.
“Every day I am in crisis,” said Animal Services Director Bronwyn Stanford during a Miami Herald interview in the $15 million shelter
Call Mayor Cava and tell her to implement the Pets’ Trust solution!
Over 15 years the Animal Services budget has tripled and the results are the same. The County’s plan is not working. We need The Pets’ Trust Plan now!
Budget and Results
In the chart above you can see that the extra MILLIONS of dollars going into the shelter each year in the past 16 years have not made much of an impact. In 2023, with a budget of $37 million dollars, 33,000 animals are expected to come into the shelter with an additional untold THOUSANDS turned away. In 2009, we spent $8.5 million dollars for the same intake, 33,000 animals.
Now, 16 years after 2009, we have a budget of almost $30 million dollars more…showing the SAME RESULTS that we had 16 years ago. The adoptions are also expected to be the same as 16 years ago. Spay/neuter surgeries went up, but are still four to five times lower than they should be if we are serious about lowering the animal overpopulation explosion which IS the cause of this entire problem.
The number of employees and cost per animals are simply mind blowing when comparing 2009 and 2023. We are back where we started from, and again, it only cost us an extra $30 million dollars per year to get there!!!
Remember, the funding for the Pets’ Trust Plan was not for the Miami-Dade Animal Shelter that has its own budget. The Pets’ Trust Plan called for a variety of programs, vetted by over thirty national experts, that would lessen the stresses and crises for the employees of Miami-Dade Animal Services and help the animals both inside AND outside the shelter. (Do not forget those hundreds of thousands of animals on the streets of Miami-Dade County. Their suffering is unbearable!)
We ask Mayor Cava, why did you wholeheartedly support the Pets’ Trust Plan in 2020 when you campaigned for Mayor (and also during both of your two previous campaigns for Commissioner) but now you’re so vehemently against it? Do you see success in the Budget and Results numbers? Do these number make you happy? Do you think they make your constituents happy?
Please Mayor Cava, Fund the Pets’ Trust now! Voters are protesting your inaction.
Letter published in the Miami Herald May 16, 2023
Letter published in the Miami Herald August 16, 2023
Letter published in the Miami Herald August 29, 2023
Letter published in the Miami Herald August 29, 2023
Editorial published in the Miami Herald September 3, 2023. We take issue with this editorial because it implies that we, the Pets’ Trust organization, are asking that the funds for the Plan be given to us. That’s not true. Click here to read our position.
Letter published in the Miami Herald September 3, 2023
Letter published in the Miami Herald September 6, 2023
This letter published in the Miami Herald September 7, 2023 is our REBUTTAL to the Miami Herald’s September 3rd Editorial asking about, “handing over such a large sum” which implies that money would be given to us, Pets’ Trust Miami, a 501(c)(3) organization. Shame on the Editorial Board for deliberately misleading the public. Shame on Mayor Cava for not correcting the Editorial Board when she was asked about the funds. Click here to read more about it.
and neutering not just our pets, but also the stray animals in the county. In 2012 the annual property tax increase to implement the plan averaged only $20 per home; today it’s estimated to be only $11 per home.
It’s been more than ten years since the voters approved the plan. In that time we’ve had two Mayors and many County Commissioners. Each year, the current Mayor could have pushed to implement the plan and the current Commissioners could have approved it in their annual budget. But sadly, our democratically elected leaders continually have refused to implement our democratically approved plan. 
More than half of the $20 million plan budget is for cost-effective sterilization clinics (not new brick and mortar buildings but rather inexpensive rented warehouses). It’s been more than a decade since the voters approved the plan and our Mayors and Commissioners have failed to implement it. Throughout this time homeless animals have been reproducing unabated. The animal population is growing so much that Animal Services Director Bronwyn Stanford says