LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Two local animal advocates are pushing for a $6 annual tax per household in Lee County to address animal shelter overcrowding through spay and neuter services.
Geri Cerilli and Marcie Fernandez launched their advocacy campaign to help animals like Benson and thousands of others that end up in overcrowded shelters each year.
Click here to see Fox 4 Community Correspondent Victoria Quevedo speak with the local advocates.
"You see one animal suffer, and you want to do something. So when you see thousands of them, you know, year after year, you want to, you just, you can't let it go," Fernandez said.
The proposed tax would pay for four low-cost spay and neuter clinics throughout Lee County. The advocates believe this approach will address the root cause of shelter overcrowding.
"We have to get to stopping the problem at its source. They are being hit by cars, they're being killed, they are suffering and dying from heat exhaustion," Cerilli said.
According to Lee County Domestic Animal Services statistics, the shelter took in 7,868 animals and euthanized 1,838 in 2024. Through October of this year, intake numbers climbed to 7,950 with 1,508 euthanized. Those numbers exclude owner-requested euthanasia.
"We can control the number of pets being born on the streets that don't have homes so they don't wind up in the shelter being euthanized," Fernandez said.
The petition launched Sunday afternoon and has already gathered more than 700 signatures. Cerilli met with the assistant county manager on Wednesday and plans to meet with county commissioners next week to seek approval for the proposal.
"We have to be their voices. They do not have voices. Gosh, what if it wasn't for us? Where would these animals be? So I love advocating for them," Cerilli said.
For more information on the petition, click here.
https://www.change.org/p/implement-a-6-00-non-ad-valorem-tax-for-animal-clinics-in-lee-county
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