NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL—March 17, 2014— The Humane Society of Greater Miami is deeply distressed over the direction that the County appears to be moving in with awarding the contract for a high-volume spay/neuter clinic to an out of town company from Jacksonville.
The Humane Society is being forced by the County to leave its South Dade location and will no longer be able to serve the cats and dogs in the Southern end of the County. It is aware of the County’s desire to increase spay/neuter surgeries in order for the County to achieve its goal of becoming a “No Kill Community.” The Humane Society has expressed its capability and interest to partner with Miami-Dade Animal Services to make this happen. In addition, the local veterinarian community has communicated that they are willing to cooperate and help the County achieve its goal as well. The Humane Society responded to the County’s RFI with a proposal that was very similar to the only other viable competitor for the bid, (the out of town company in Jacksonville) except it was hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper.
All the Humane Society is asking for is an opportunity to help end the pet overpopulation problem by running this high-volume spay/neuter clinic and to work towards the “No Kill Community” initiative. Dade County’s tax payer’s dollars should support local businesses and local initiatives, not support an out of town company. Because it is the local Humane Society and is currently doing “mid-volume” spay/neuter surgeries without any Dade County tax payer funding, it feels there is no reason why it would not be awarded the opportunity to provide “high-volume” spay/neuter services to its own community. It has the infrastructure in place and with funding from the County it would be able to increase its volume and help Miami with its goal of becoming a “No Kill Community.” This is core to its mission.
“We need all Miami-Dade residents to take action today and write, call, email, or text our County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez and our County Commissioners, The Miami Herald, our local TV stations, and help save the hometown Humane Society!!” says Laurie Hoffman, Executive Director of the Humane Society of Greater Miami. “Go to our website, humanesocietymiami.org, for contact details for the County Mayor and all County Commissioners. Also, please sign our online petition addressing the Board of County Commissioners. Please take action today before it’s too late!”
