Little Cats in Hillsborough County Need Your Voice

PLEASE GIVE THESE GUYS JUST A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME TONIGHT – PLEASE?

We, at Big Cat Rescue, are already caring for these little kittens, as well as many more kittens and adults here at our sanctuary.  We’re not just caretakers for big cats.  We’re also being inundated with small cats  WHY?  Mainly because 1700 cats and kittens were killed at our county animal shelter in MAY alone!  They would be dead, if not for us.  Caring people just don’t know what to do, so they end up asking us for help.  This problem impacts us all!!

Tomorrow night, the county commissioners are meeting to make even more DRASTIC cuts to the already low budget and it spells death and abuse for 1000’s more animals like these .  If they don’t hear from you RIGHT NOW, if they don’t receive 100’s of calls, emails, meeting attendees speaking up, there will be no more cruelty investigation officers in our county.  Adoption counselors, vet techs, veterinarians are scheduled to be cut.  This is a DESPERATE situation for the animals in this county – DESPERATE!

AREN’T THEY WORTH YOUR TIME?  PLEASE go to www.hillsboroughcounty.org and email ALL the commissioners your outrage tonight.  If you can also call and leave messages or even attend tomorrow night’s meeting, YOU can make a difference and help save their lives.

Please do it for them!!!!!!!

Background Information:

It is important to attend but an email is just as good and probably more effective. We really need to voice our concerns as to how this cut will impact the save rate and have drastic consequences for adoptions and cruelty investigation and reverse the positive trend.

You can go to the website:  www.hillsboroughcounty.org and email commissioners all at the same time.  You can also review all proposed budget cuts by clicking on the budget link.  

Here are the very sad stats:

To be cut:  19 Field operations and 5 cruelty positions which would effectively end cruelty investigations, enhance dog fighting, eliminate protection against vicious dogs and bring the county back to operating as it did in the 1930's.

In 2009, HCAS responded to 2100 bite calls, 5180 injured animal calls, 1850 vicious animal calls and 4700 neglect calls.

This is very sad for the animals.

As far as Shelter services:  To be cut –  2 vet techs, one part time vet and 6 adoption counselors.  This will impact directly adoptions, transfers and care of the animals in the shelter.

Please go to the website and please send an email.

Thank you!

You are all urged to attend the public budget hearing put on by the
Hillsborough County Commissioners this Tuesday at 6p.m. at County Center
located at 601 E. Kennedy Blvd (downtown Tampa) to discuss the intended
budget cuts to HCAS which sound pretty drastic. I am being told they are looking to
cut 4-5 investigative officers and turn animal abuse investigations over to
the Sheriff's Department and cut something like 8 vet techs. It is feared
now that the vet on staff will perhaps cutback the number of spay/neuter
surgeries which makes sense if he does not have the support staff. This
cutback on surgeries would in turn delay adoptions. And, of course, we all know
what that leads to! Personally, I would like to know how animal abuse cases
will rank in priority with the Sheriff's Dept. instead of allowing Animal
Control Officers to handle??

Any and all are welcome to attend and urged to speak up. Let's show up in force and make our voices heard for the sake of these
animals. Feel free to pass this email along.

Thanks!
For the cats,

Carole Baskin, CEO of Big Cat Rescue
an Educational Sanctuary home
to more than 100 big cats
12802 Easy Street Tampa, FL  33625
813.493.4564 fax 885.4457

http://www.BigCatRescue.org

Sign our petition to protect tigers from being farmed here:

http://capwiz.com/bigcatrescue/issues/alert/?alertid=9952801&type=CU

Free ways to join us and help the big cats:

Twitter:  Follow Me and be invited to enter our Animal Lover's Dream Vacation Giveaway!  http://twitter.com/BigCatRescue

This message contains information from Big Cat Rescue that may be confidential or privileged. The information contained herein is intended
only for the eyes of the individual or entity named above.  You are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, disclosure, and/or copying of the information contained in this communication is strictly prohibited. The recipient should check this e-mail and any attachments for the presence of viruses. Big Cat Rescue accepts no liability for any damage or loss caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail.