The Humane Society of Greater Miami is concerned that its landlord, Miami- Dade County, will be leasing the South Clinic at Cutler Bay to a new tenant.
Certain that it will be replaced by a Jacksonville-based provider, the Humane Society is asking the community to sign the online petition and to contact their elected county officials before Apr. 30.
“All we are asking for is an opportunity,” said Laurie Hoffman, executive director of the Humane Society.
The Humane Society’s concerns have been growing since December 2013 when the county’s Animal Services Department released a request for information regarding the South Dade Animal Clinic.
The county, in its ongoing effort to reduce pet overpopulation while respecting the 2012 “No Kill” resolution, issued RFI 51A with a Jan. 7, 2014 deadline.
The RFI invited input from animal welfare experts and rescue industry professionals regarding the feasibility of utilizing the Cutler Bay location as a “successfully operating high volume spay/neuter clinic.” The Humane Society and the Jacksonville provider were among the respondents.
After several meetings between the Humane Society and the county, Hoffman believes the county will be awarding the Duval County provider with the $1 million annual contract.
“We believe we have fully demonstrated our capability and interest in partnering with the county’s Animal Services to make this happen. Our proposal is very similar to the one from Jacksonville — except ours is hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper,” Hoffman said.
The Humane Society currently provides “mid-volume” spay/neuter surgeries without the benefit of county taxpayer funding at its two facilities in North Miami Beach and at the South Clinic. They perform a total of 13,000 sterilization surgeries per year.
With the assistance of the proposed contract award, Hoffman believes the Humane Society has the capability and the infrastructure in place to increase the number of spay/neuter surgeries the county envisions for the Cutler Bay clinic (20,000 surgeries).
The Humane Society of Greater Miami has been helping homeless animals in Miami-Dade County since 1936.
For more information, visit the website at humanesocietymiami.org .
Members of the Greater Miami community are asked to go to the Humane Society’s online petition under the banner, “Save the Local Hometown Humane Society.” They seek 5,000 signatures by Apr. 30.
As of Mar. 28 Miami-Dade Animal Services director Alex Muñoz had not responded to requests for comment.
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