Miami-Dade considers no-kill animal shelter

MIAMI (WSVN) -- The Miami-Dade Commission is considering a resolution that can save the lives of our four-legged friends.

The panel is trying to develop a financial plan to have a no-kill animal shelter in the county. "The idea here is to be as humane as possible," said Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose "Pepe" Diaz, "and to try to eliminate the issue of killing the animals just because they're not being adopted."

Diaz is sponsoring a resolution to develop a program for Miami-Dade County with the goal of changing Miami-Dade Animal Services into a no-kill shelter. "Many of the programs that you need to achieve that kind of save rate, we do already," said Alex Munoz, a spokesperson for the shelter. "Some of them need to grow on a bigger scale, and we need community involvement."

Some of these programs that will help Animal Services on the road to no-kill status include:

-More adoptions in the community
-More involvement in foster care for the animals
-Expanding rescue groups

The plan is to include a financially feasible plan to include comprehensive adoption programs and volunteer programs. Becoming a no-kill shelter means having a 90 percent or better rate of animals housed at the county shelter by providing alternatives to shelter killing. "This is the reason why we are studying it for the 180 days," Diaz said. "We want to make sure that everything that's out there, anything that could get us information, to make sure that something that's as sensitive as this for our community, will be looked at, and that's what's important."

This was just a resolution passed by the County Commissioners, which means that a plan will still need to go before the board. One thing is clear, many are behind the resolution and want to see it become a reality.

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