Permission to Cross Post

We are asking everyone both inside the State of Florida and outside the
State to send individual faxes or emails to the all Miami Dade County
Commissioners, the County Manager and the County Mayor, their address are below,
objecting to the "Chapter 5 Animal Control Ordnance" re write and the proposed
alternative. Faxes are much more effective than email.

Miami Dade County is the largest County in Florida. It is known for it's
model ordinances. If this Chapter 5 Ordinance passes the Health & Public
Safety Committee on November 28th, it will probably pass the full County
Commission on December 18th.

This is the link to the Agenda for the Committee. Click on items 3 & 3A to
read the text of the ordinances and changes.


_http://www.co.miami-dade.fl.us/govaction/commagenda.asp?cmbmeetdate=2414&file=true&changes=false_
(http://www.co.miami-dade.fl.us/govaction/commagenda.asp?cmbmeetdate=2414&file=true&changes=false)



A few talking points are you may want include in your letter are below:

The intent of making changes to Chapter 5 was to reduce redundant language
and to clear up conflicts within the Chapter in addition to Florida Law. This
re write has gone far beyond it's original purpose and actually adds pages
of restrictions and fines on to Canine owners within this County.

There was a Volunteer Legislative Committee set up 1 1/2 years ago to work
on these re writes. Before the first meeting, almost the entire Chapter had
already been re written without any public input. Furthermore, there was no
public meeting notice for these meetings, only a small note on the Community
Calendar within the County Website. The Committee consisted of 95% rescuers,
1 maybe 2 breeders and the only known professionals within the legal or
veterinarian community were employed by this County. Comments were offered at
these meetings, but very little language changed from the 1st draft through
today.

Some items have been amended in since Chapter 5 was deferred in October, but
many items which were objected to are still in the alternative ordinance
substitute. This is not acceptable and still needs to be worked on.

The issue of "the owner of any real property, upon which any animal
regulated herein is maintained, shall be responsible for that animal to the same
extent as the responsible party." remains and is not acceptable. This will
force tenants to give up their pets or move out of the county.

There is already Florida law regarding Breeding, and currently, this County
requires a lifetime license for small scale breeder. There is no reason to
create a hobby breeder license, adding another layer of restrictions.

The County requires domestic Cats to be vaccinated, but not registered.
This is putting the cost of Animal Services on the backs of Canines required to
be registered.

This re write leaves the cost of registering an unaltered canine left up to
the Board of County Commissioners, without any type of fee structure or
increasing scale for inflation. There is also no medical exemptions for canine's
with health issues, whereas it could harm them if they are altered. It also
increases the fee for redemption of unaltered animals.

The length of hold time on animals at the County Shelter has been cut in
half. This give an owner less time to reclaim their pet. The hold time for
puppy's has been reduced to 24 hours from 5 days.

All sections of this Chapter have been addressed, with the exception of the
5-17, the Pit Bull Ordinance. If this chapter is going to be re written,
this issue should be included, not ignored.

In regard to enforcement, these changes will allow animal services to issue
a citation instead of a warning, then appeal to a special master to fight the
citation. What happens if Animal Control issues a citation for failure to
vaccinate a canine or renew the registration and it was Animal Control error?
The history of Animal Services has not been 100% in regards to these issues.
In 2003, due to some computer error, over 1000 (if not more) pet owners of
deceased pets who send certificates to Animal Services were accidentally
issued citations for the dead pets. This could happen again. This will cause an
undue financial burden on the constituency. This community should be given
warnings, not found guilty because Animal Services needs the citation funds,
which is what this is about.

Another issue is within the scope of investigating cruelty cases. Animal
Services states that they will investigate anonymous complaints. They also
state that 80% of the complaints are unfounded. In this re write, under the
enforcement issue, Animal Services asks this commission to approve language
whereas a party who has not been found guilty has to basically plead no contest
and then pay all costs involved, before any type of hearing. If the party is
found innocent, there is no recourse to recoup the expenses from Animal
Services. They suggest suing the complaining party, if it was a false complaint,
but, if the complaint was anonymous, then what?

------------------
When addressing letters, please write Honorable Commissioner ____________,
and so forth.


District 1
Barbara J Jordan
305-375-5694 fax 3055-474-3011
_District1@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District1@miamidade.gov)
District 2
Dorrin D Rolle
305-375-4833 Fax 305-694-2781
_District2@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District2@miamidade.gov)
District 3
Andrew M Edmonso
305-375-5393 Fax 305-638-6906
_District3@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District3@miamidade.gov)
District 4
Sally A Heyman
305-375-5128 Fax 305-372-6179
_District4@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District4@miamidade.gov)
District 5
Bruno Barreiro
305-643-8525 Fax 305-643-8528
_District5@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District5@miamidade.gov)
District 6
Rebeca Sosa
305-375-5996 Fax 305-267-6366
_District6@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District6@miamidade.gov)
District7
Carlos A Gimenez
305-375-5680 Fax 305-372-6103
_District7@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District7@miamidade.gov)
District 8
Kathy Sorenso
305-375-5218 Fax 305-372-6073
_District8@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District8@miamidade.gov)
District 9
Dennis C, Moss
305-375-4832 Fax 305 234-4938
_District9@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District9@miamidade.gov)
District 10
Javier D. Souto
305-375-4835 Fax 305 375-3456
_District10@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District10@miamidade.gov)
District 11
Joe A Martinez
305-375-5511 Fax 305-375-5883
_District11@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District11@miamidade.gov)
District 12
Jose Diaz
305-375-4343 Fax 305 372-6109
_District12@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District12@miamidade.gov)
District 13
Natacha Seijas
305-375-4831 Fax 305-375-2011
_District4@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:District4@miamidade.gov)
County Attorney
Murray Greenberg
305-375-5151 Fax 305-375-5634
_atty@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:atty@miamidade.gov)
County Manager
George M. Burges
305-375-5311 Fax 305-375-1262
_Manager@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:Manager@miamidade.gov)
Mayor
Carlos Alvarez
305-375-5071 Fax 305-375-3618
_mayor@miamidade.gov_ (mailto:mayor@miamidade.gov)
(mailto:dpnz@miamidade.gov)