100 signatures reached
To: Reps. Bacon, R-Neb., Salinas, D-Oregon, Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Resident Commissioner González-Colón, R-PR. Senator Cory Booker, D-N.J., Senate Co-sponsors, and Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Senate Committee
Open the Abandoned Roosevelt Roads Naval Station for Rescue of Animals Suffering in the Streets
The decommissioned Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Ceiba, Puerto Rico has a large amount of vacant land and buildings that are not used. At the closure of the base in 2004, about 30% of the property was transferred to the government of Puerto Rico and its municipalities.
The government of Puerto Rico does not address the exponentially growing overpopulation of strays on the island and to the contrary, they take steps against banning breeding and mandating sterilization. Additionally, the government allots very few and inadequate numbers of police officers to enforce animal welfare and protection laws. Every government-run shelter is a high-kill shelter. there is no humane government facility for animals.
The welfare of the street animals is shouldered almost entirely by rescue organizations and independent rescuers who rely heavy on donations and are currently not able to help even a small percentage of the animals in need due the lack of governmental responsibility. In the meantime, illegal breeders, who are not pursued by law enforcement, dump animals daily that are reproducing at a rate that outpaces the numbers that can be taken off the streets.
Rescuers need the use of abandoned and empty buildings at the decommissioned Roosevelt Roads Naval Station for housing and treating the animals while they are prepared for adoption.
Please allow rescuers to use the property.
The government of Puerto Rico does not address the exponentially growing overpopulation of strays on the island and to the contrary, they take steps against banning breeding and mandating sterilization. Additionally, the government allots very few and inadequate numbers of police officers to enforce animal welfare and protection laws. Every government-run shelter is a high-kill shelter. there is no humane government facility for animals.
The welfare of the street animals is shouldered almost entirely by rescue organizations and independent rescuers who rely heavy on donations and are currently not able to help even a small percentage of the animals in need due the lack of governmental responsibility. In the meantime, illegal breeders, who are not pursued by law enforcement, dump animals daily that are reproducing at a rate that outpaces the numbers that can be taken off the streets.
Rescuers need the use of abandoned and empty buildings at the decommissioned Roosevelt Roads Naval Station for housing and treating the animals while they are prepared for adoption.
Please allow rescuers to use the property.
Why is this important?
Tourists do not enjoy seeing suffering animals on the streets everywhere on the island while they are vacationing.
The 2007 Massacre in Barceloneta where about 80 dogs were seized by government contractors and thrown off a 50-foot highway bridge in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, gained the world's attention and led to a tourism boycott. Authorities estimated the subsequent losses in tourism income to be more than $15 million. The government continues with mass killings at "shelters" and deplorable standards for the protection and treatment animals. As Puerto Rico increases it's tourism, exposure of the animal crisis on the island also increases and therefore the potential for another tourism boycott and the loss of many millions of dollars to the economy of Puerto Rico.
The 2007 Massacre in Barceloneta where about 80 dogs were seized by government contractors and thrown off a 50-foot highway bridge in Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, gained the world's attention and led to a tourism boycott. Authorities estimated the subsequent losses in tourism income to be more than $15 million. The government continues with mass killings at "shelters" and deplorable standards for the protection and treatment animals. As Puerto Rico increases it's tourism, exposure of the animal crisis on the island also increases and therefore the potential for another tourism boycott and the loss of many millions of dollars to the economy of Puerto Rico.
How it will be delivered
Email, facebook, letters