From the Miami Herald on October 3, 2023 (originally published online October 2, 2023):
Zoey, a 5-year-old pit bull, sits under the palm trees alongside owner Norman Cornavaca and friend Jimmy Amador as they enjoyed a sunny day at South Pointe Beach on Monday, June 3, 2019. DAVID SANTIAGO dsantiago@miamiherald.com
From the Miami Herald on September 27, 2023 (originally published online September 26, 2023):
Bronwyn Stanford, Miami-Dade County’s new Animal Services director, pauses after her appointment was presented to the County Commission on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. On Sept. 26, 2023, she resigned her $212,000 post at the request of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
Click here for the September 24, 2023 story about the countersuit.
Click here for the July 15th and 18th, 2023 stories about the original lawsuit and the Director’s suspension.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
From the Miami Herald on September 24, 2023 (originally published online September 22, 2023):
Yolanda Berkowitz founded the Friends of Miami Animals Foundation, a charity that helps Miami-Dade County’s Animal Services Department. She’s pictured here with her husband, Miami developer Jeff Berkowitz. Courtesy/Young Arts
Click here for a story on the August Inspector General’s report mentioned above.
We’re very disappointed. We falsely hoped the Pets’ Trust Plan could start on October 1, 2023. The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners ignored us in the 2023-2024 budget. However, they did, again, increase the budget for the Animal Services department plus add a little extra slush money. When will they learn? The Animal Services budget has now quadrupled from where it was when the Pets’ Trust idea began, and the key results aren’t changing!
Here’s Doug Hanks’ September 23, 2023 story from the Miami Herald:
Source: Doug Hanks’ September 22, 2023 story in the Miami Herald, originally published online September 21st:
Chairman Gilbert criticizes Pets’ Trust supporter for referencing the Mayor.
At the Sept. 7, 2023 budget hearing before the Miami-Dade County Commission, Kendall resident Sharon Shaw criticized Mayor Daniella Levine Cava by name in her remarks. That prompted a reminder from Oliver Gilbert, chair of the County Commission, of board rules prohibiting public speakers from mentioning individuals in their comments.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
You won’t believe what artificial intelligence can do. We provided InVideo this eight-word phrase, “cartoon instruction video for cats to use condoms” and it created this surprisingly spot-on video:
We asked ChatGPT, “How to reduce stray animal populations” and it gave this comprehensive answer:
Reducing stray animal populations requires a combination of humane and effective strategies. Here are some key steps:
Spaying and Neutering: Implement widespread spaying and neutering programs for stray animals.
Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
…
Even though Commissioners Cohen Higgins and Regalado want to support the Pets’ Trust Plan, they can’t because they’re being PLAN-BLOCKED by Commissioner Kionne McGhee. He’s perversely using an arcane rule (see Rule 5.06(a)(4) in the BCC Rules of Procedure) to prevent them from working with the other Commissioners to implement the Plan. That’s right, one Commissioner has the power to stop the remaining 12 from discussing an item!
Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Let’s set the record straight. Recently, lies and negative accusations about us and our organization have been spreading in the press and on social media, especially these two lies: 1) the money would go to or be controlled by our organization and 2) the money would be used to build lavish spay/neuter centers. These are simply false. But they are effective in bolstering negative sentiments, especially when they originate from The Miami Herald and a local politician with a large following who is the wife of a prominent veterinarian and President of the Miami Veterinary Foundation. … Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
On September 7, 2023, approximately 80 red-shirted people attended a rally in support of the Pets’ Trust Plan outside County Hall before the 2023-2024 Budget Meeting. Many people spoke to the Commissioners about the plight of animals in our County. Each speaker was given only one minute to say their name, address and their message.
…Commissioner Cohen Higgins addressing the entire Board of County Commissioners, September 7, 2023, made this astute assertion:
“The Pets’ Trust is not for the Mayor to implement; the Pets’ Trust is for us as a body to implement, should we so desire.
Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
The Miami Herald’s September 3, 2023 editorial (you can read it and our rebuttal below) really missed the mark by spreading a dangerous lie that started in 2013 to destroy the Pets’ Trust Plan. If the Herald’s Editorial Board had only watched their own movie Political Animals, they would know that the Pets’ Trust Plan does NOT give money to the Pets’ Trust organization. Implying that it does is a political ploy to kill the project.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
From the Miami Herald on August 20, 2023 (originally published online August 18, 2023):
Later that morning, Stanford texted another administrator under her, clinic coordinator Meredith Hippert, with a question: “Anything on Piper?” Hippert texted back images of the four X-rays performed on Piper with county equipment.
On Saturday, August 12th there was a PEACEFUL PROTEST FOR OUR ANIMALS at the old Miami-Dade Animal Shelter, 7401 NW 74th Street, Medley.
Rita’s Opening Statement:
Conditions are deplorable for animals in the shelter. Cats and dogs are suffering. We must let our Mayor and Commissioners know that we demand immediate action.
Dogs with NO WATER in feels-like 105° heat — why?
Tuesday, August 8, 2023 1:00 p.m.
Protesters either drove themselves to the protest or met at 11 a.m.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Dan could volunteer at an animal shelter or a rescue, but his heart is out here, with the animals that are alone and afraid.
The animals here depend on Dan’s big heart, what money he has, and his energy.
Who takes care of Dan? Who rescues the rescuer? He doesn’t ask for anything for himself. I know that if he won the lottery tomorrow, every last dollar would go to dogs and people in need. True charity is selfless.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
By Elaine De Valle (aka, Ladra) May 19, 2023 – published here on Political Cortadito
Remember the Pets’ Trust?
A whopping 64% of us approved this initiative on a non-binding ballot question in 2012. It aimed to direct budget dollars for animal services to a massive spay and neuter program to take care of the stray and abandoned dogs and cats that are overpopulating, particularly in the southwestern part of Miami-Dade. The Miami-Dade Commission and then-mayor Carlos Gimenez decided to ignore us.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Letter written to The Miami Herald by Janet Carbelli – Published May 16, 2023
Congratulations to the Miami Herald on the well-deserved Pulitzer Prize for the “Broken Promises” editorial series. This reminder of our representatives’ failures over the years to fulfill voters’ wishes is more than disheartening.
One of those wishes was funding for Pets’ Trust Miami. I was one of the 65% of voters who supported funding the initiative (costs would have been less than $20 per household per year).… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
On March 7, 2023, Michael Rosenberg was asked to speak to the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) where he emphasized the importance of preventing stray and abandoned animals from reproducing by increasing spay and neuter surgeries fourfold. Thanks to Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins for inviting Michael and then for leading the BCC in a much needed discussion on animal welfare. You can watch Michael’s speech here:
Later that same day Commissioner Danielle Cohen Higgins led the other Commissioners, Mayor Cava and Animal Services Director Bronwyn Stanford in a discussion about our County’s animal overpopulation problem.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Filmmaker Cristian Ruben took his camera to the Redland knowing that with so much open space and hidden back roads, it is an easy place to dump one’s dog. He quickly found one that would tell his story. Rocky (as we named him) was sitting on a corner waiting. Yes, waiting. Waiting for his owner that threw him away to come back. Waiting and waiting, not moving from the spot. (Ironically, if we were to take Rocky to the shelter, they would tell us to take him back where we found him in hopes the owner would come back! … Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Written By Michael Rosenberg, michael@petstrustmiami.com – Published in the Miami Herald, February 3, 2023
After reading Doug Hanks’ Jan. 25 front-page story, “No room in the kennel,” I am not going to say, “We told you so.” However, after observing Miami-Dade Animal Services for the past 10 years, it confirms that, when almost 500,000 Miami-Dade County residents voted for the Pets’ Trust in 2012 (nearly 65% of the voters), we know what needs to be done.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Wow! Doug Hanks’ extensive exposé on problems at the Miami-Dade Animal Shelter was published in The Miami Herald today. You can read the entire story here.
We spent a few months organizing a June 26, 2022 meeting with about 40 local volunteer animal rescuers and two featured speakers, County Commissioner Raquel Regalado and Miami-Dade Animal Services Director Bronwyn Stanford. Previously Commissioner Regalado has promised her support for the Pets’ Trust plan. Both featured speakers confirmed they would participate. The rescue groups were there with us. But both featured speakers were no-shows at the meeting. How can we expect our overwhelmed rescue groups to have a dialog with county leaders if our county leaders won’t meet?… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
Community Newspapers has followed the journey of the Pets’ Trust for years. In 2012, almost 500,000 people, 65 per cent of the voters, said ‘YES’ to a slight increase in property taxes to create a life-saving program for our pets, our cats and dogs. The initiative was to help stem the animal overpopulation problem and to stop the killing of so many animals at the shelter.
Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
In 2012, 483,491 Miami-Dade residents voted for a straw ballot initiative that proposed improving animal services in the county. The services included “decreasing the killing of adoptable dogs and cats” by “funding free and low-cost spay/neuter programs, low-cost vet care and responsible pet ownership educational programs.”
The proposal would create a dedicated source of funding by a tax increase that would raise homeowners’ yearly taxes by about $20.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
By Elaine DeValle, a.k.a., Ladra, Published on Political Cortadito September 20, 2016
It’s like he’s been backed into a corner.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez lied again last week and slandered, again, a pair of animal activists who 
worked hard to get the Pets’ Trust Initiative passed by 65% of the voters in 2012 and who are brave enough to keep fighting ever since for that vote to be respected.
Michael Rosenberg and Rita Schwartz certainly have been very active in politics since Gimenez first funded the Pets Trust initiative and then scratched it in 2013.… Click here to read the rest of this blog post.
