A bitter fight between animal lovers and animal lovers is taking place in Miami-Dade, and they all want the same thing: Lower the record number of unwanted dogs and cats brought to the county’s animal shelter, and increase the number of people to adopt them.
But this fight, based largely on the Internet, is now distracting people from that mission.
Dr. Sara Pizano, the petite, smiley veterinarian, has run the county's animal services shelter since 2005. She was brought in from the respected Broward County Humane Society as the great new hope, after several disastrous shelter administrations under the Public Works department and then Miami-Dade Police.
"While the police have good intentions,” said County Manager George Burgess back in September 2004, “animals experts should be running the shelter."
NBC Miami asked Pizano if the office was a mess when she came in.
"There was a lot of work that needed to be done," said Pizano.
If you look at the official county numbers, she’s right. Since she started:
· Adoptions are up nearly 300%. From 3,002 to 8,334.
· Total number of animals saved, which includes dozens of rescue groups and foster homes, rose from 5,667 to 13,942. That’s also a nearly 300% increase.
· Volunteer hours went from zero – the police dropped the volunteer program – to 12,800 hours per year, free to taxpayers.
And, incredibly, all this progress has happened while the staggering number of pets people are bringing to the shelter has risen dramatically to nearly 36,000 a year. That’s an average of nearly 100 every single day of the week, every single week of the year.
"We work tirelessly to save animals,” says Pizano. “So I'm not sure how anybody could come to the conclusion that I want to euthanize animals. I think it's just a ludicrous thing to say, and so easily proved wrong."
But there's an Internet campaign, stretching from Miami to California to India, that is demanding Pizano be fired.
Dahlia Cane, one of Pizano’s chief critics, doesn't mince words about her promlems with Dr. Pizano.
"[They're] innocent animals and they're being killed,” she said. "Euthanasia. Call it what it is. Not euthanasia. They're being killed. With our tax dollars."
Pizano says there aren't enough people to adopt the pets, but Cane isn't convinced.
"She has had quite a few opportunities to turn that shelter into a 'no kill' shelter," Cane said.
Cane runs the group that fights laws against single breeds targeted by special legislation, most notably the county’s ban on Pitbulls.
"The numbers look good on paper but are not good on fact," declared Cane, after she was shown the shelter’s performance data.
The anger has turned so ugly that the shelter's Facebook page that advertised pets who need a home was shut down after ugly posts. Pizano described the posts as "just really malicious, evil accusations.”
"I agree and we can't help that,” said Cane. “People are irated (sic) because they're tired of seeing animals killed. They want answers."
On Tuesday, Pizano's critics will protest from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. outside county hall in downtown Miami. Cane says organizers expect 500 people.
Coincidentally, county officials are almost ready to announce the start of the long-awaited new pet shelter doubling the size and improving conditions.
