Dear Franklin County Commissioners:
FCHS is here for Franklin County -- Franklin County needs to be here for FCHS.
Without a contract with the Franklin County Government for caring for animals from the unincorporated areas of Franklin County, FCHS may have to limit the animals coming in or close the shelter doors for good. We urge you to include planning for animal control and welfare in the County's long range planning.
PLEASE HELP US get the needs of area animals included in the Franklin County Commissioner's 2010 Plan for the next ten years. See the presentation made to them in August '09. We don't think they see that there is a problem in Franklin County with stray, "dumped" and breeding animals. They said, "We're just not hearing there's a problem...." (from the citizens of Franklin County). The Franklin County Commissioners don't think you care.
We know you care. Please, speak up, and tell your FC Commissioners if you feel there is an animal issue to resolve! If they don't take responsibility and help us pay for the cost of boarding the stray animals that come from the unincorporated Franklin County Area, (which Missouri Law requires us to hold for 5 days), we may be forced to close our doors to stray animals and curtail our operations due to limitations of private funding. We don't get funds from Franklin County unless the Sheriff's Department brings the animal in. Same with the cities of Franklin County - if the city personnel don't bring them in, we are not funded at all. If you are within the city limits, call your city Police or Animal Control if you have a stray animal on your property.
If we cannot keep up our work, friendly and homeless dogs and cats will suffer in Franklin County, and the population will grow, exponentially. We've worked so hard to keep the population of unwanted pets down by taking them in and adopting and altering them. Our funding is limited, and we are facing losses of almost $100,000 each year - money we don't have. We cannot survive to help the animals in our area at this rate. Our progress will be interrupted if we cannot afford to take in strays anymore, keeping the breeding population down.
Regardless of whether FCHS is here or not, at the same time, rabies in bats, racoons and skunks in this area will definitely transfer to a dog or cat in our area. We are urging Franklin County to require rabies vaccinations in all owned pets, because it is not currently required.
If Franklin County helps us with the cost of caring for THEIR animals, we can survive, and we can keep the population from exploding. If they help, by our taking them in, there WON'T be the hundreds of litters of unwanted, unaltered animals on YOUR streets and in YOUR neighborhood.
Come sign our petition at the shelter, to require rabies registration of pets in Franklin County, and/or to help fund our costs in taking in and holding all these animals, as we are required to do by Missouri Law, as long as our doors are open to strays.
If you want to speak out about animal concerns, one way or the other, you need to do it now during the 10 Year Plan formative stages - which will end very soon.
Please don't wait, the Commissioners don't think you care.
Contact the Franklin County Commission at
400 E Locust Room 206
Union, MO 63084
(636) 583-6358
|
