Due to lack of spay/neutering, unwanted dogs are being dumped in Everglades and agricultural regions  which SB 0488 and HB 527 will prevent from happening.  Feral & stray dogs *are* dangerous--they form packs, and they can attack and kill children; get rabies (which is high in Florida). This is a growing problem as it was the news.

http://www.local10.com/news/Rescue-Group-Saves-Dogs-Abandoned-In-The-Everglades/-/1717324/3076726/-/to672g/-/index.html

http://www.cbs12.com/articles/dogs-4736785-everglades-.html​

http://tinyurl.com/7n2j7qs​

http://www.facebook.com/ABANDONEDDOGSEVERGLADES?sk=wall

"People are dumping their animals like yesterday's trash," Hagen said. "Humanity has gone down the drain."  They in fact become snake or alligator food. Lots of pythons are getting fat from these dogs.

Feral/homeless dogs also pose a threat to the safety of livestock and farmers.

"Burmese Pythons are among the most deadly snakes in the world and kill by asphyxiating their victims - and swallowing dead prey whole. The warning has been sparked by a study from the U.S. Geological Survey which found that even newly-hatched pythons can survive in seawater for up to a month. " Companion animals are also a meal for these hideous snakes.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084159/Burmese-python-warning-issued-tourists-giant-snakes-spread-Florida.html

Pythons are wiping out Everglades mammals - all of them.

http://news.yahoo.com/pythons-apparently-wiping-everglades-mammals-201541112.html

To save tax payers' monies, please support, co-sponsor,  and help pass Florida Senate Bill 0488/House Bill 527.  It will cost the State nothing and is humane. Animal control is VERY expensive (about $94 million yearly for Florida alone). Prohibitive costs for spay/neutering  is the number one reason why most don't do this humane intervention. Spay/neutering is the only way to stop the killing and reduce cruelty.  Animal cruelty/animal ordinance surcharge $15 is a common sense intervention to alleviate this problem for those who choose this surgery for their pets, is good for the State, our tax payers, and is humane legislation. Everybody wins.

Homeless companion animals live short, brutal lives: Most die of starvation, parasites, diseases, end up as road kill, or food for coyotes. Homeless animals are also often victims of horrible human cruelty which is expensive for law enforcement investigations.

Homeless cats are often given rat poison or antifreeze because people find them a nuisance. I know some people who took care of homeless cats: Their cats died slowly, painfully due to someone poisoning them. In most cases it's impossible to prove who did it. Here is a case in Tampa which the guy was caught, but 99% of them they aren't. Spay/neutering prevents this. Aside from the cruelty, it's expensive for law enforcement to investigate. So spay/neutering also saves money in that respect by PREVENTING this cruelty. 
Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/man-faces-animal-abuse-charges-for-serving-rat-poison-to-cats-#ixzz1c98i428O

"The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission estimates that the population of feral cats (in Florida)  may be 6.3 to 9.6 million"  (and breeding).
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:IiNuUyZw_0EJ:www.law.ufl.edu/conservation/pdf/feralcat.pdf+fine+for+abandoning+dogs+cats+florida&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg6znuokQeR5gnkfxqt-rlUmh2yOdilT7pHgdpzG1JFrSDbG5Jytc1fMmeS2Ju1owtCwBfbUQKg9F5vaObtIafIA98wABQa6Xq1X6Xl5O_ecWXRZbuHXfcuVCeMnqxjDNuYFsDr&sig=AHIEtbRSuS9a3kiOvZOigonkXtY7KgxXOQ&pli=1

An epidemic of homeless cats does not help indigenous bird declines at all-the Scrub Jay is almost extinct in Florida. "FLORIDA SCRUB-JAY-Indigenous Bird Is Declining at a Rate Dangerous to Its Survival By Tom Palmer -Published: Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 11:46 p.m, Ledger (http://www.theledger.com/article/20111106/NEWS/111109546)

Homeless cats end up as Coyote food: Adding to overpopulation of coyotes, foxes:
http://www.heg-inc.com/2009/08/coyotes-eat-cats/

Breakdown for 2008 cost of animal control in Florida (that year alone; this is about the average spent yearly in each County:)

COST ANALYSIS:
........................................................................................
COUNTIES FL..................2008 Animal control cost

Alachua County___________$2,415,794 Cost
Baker County______________$126,190 Cost
Bay County_______________ $806,420 Cost
Bradford County______________$3,815 Cost
Brevard County___________$3,927,602 Cost
Broward County___________$4,339,210 Cost
Calhoun Cty_____________No animal control
Charlotte County____________$654,435 Cost
Citrus County_____________$1,017,796 Cost
Clay County______________$1,440,015 Cost
Collier County____________$1,326,425 Cost
Columbia County___________$230,850 Cost
Desoto Cty________________$350,000 Cost
Dixie County_______________$80,881 Cost
Duval County____________$3,830,588 Cost
Escambia Cty_____________$769,000 Cost
Flagler County____________$157,000 Cost
Franklin County____________$50,778 Cost
Gadsden Cty_______________$93,458 Cost
Gilchrist County____________$33,036 Cost
Glades County_____________$60,081 Cost
Gulf County_______________$103,401 Cost
Hamilton Cty___________NO animal control
Hardee County_____________$164,378 Cost
Hendry County_____________$189,748 Cost
Hernando Cty_____________$1,212,537 Cost
Highlands County____________$636,568 Cost
Hillsborough______________$8,232,248 Cost
Holmes County___________NO animal Control
Indian River County__________$535,923 Cost
Jackson Cty_________________$150,000 est~
Jefferson Cty_________________$17,000 Cost
Lafayetee Cty____________NO animal control
Lake County: ______________$1,980,257 Cost
Lee County________________$4,045,109 Cost
Leon County_______________$1,130,382 Cost
Levy County________________$334,528 Cost
Liberty County_______________No info given
Madison Cty_________________$56,065 Cost
Manatee Cty________________$764,215 Cost
Marion County:_____________$329,628 Cost
Martin County_______________$99,000 Cost
Miami Dade_____________$10,075,000 Cost
Monroe County_____________$947,485 Cost
Nassau County______________$653,304 Cost
Okaloosa Cty_______________$768,884 Cost
Okeechobee County__________$350,000 Cost
Orange County____________$8,410,353 Cost
Osceola County____________$4,528,756 Cost
Palm Beach County________$10,321,651 Cost
Pasco County______________$2,486,044 Cost
Pinellas County____________$5,088,100 Cost
Polk County_______________$2,873,153 Cost
Putnam County______________$313,768 Cost
Santa Rosa Cty______________$457,550 Cost
Sarasota Cty________________$231,507 Cost
Seminole County___________  $255,000 Cost
St. Lucie County____________ $731,535 Cost
St. Johns Cty______________$1,133,548 Cost
Sumter County: _____________$400,000 Cost
Suwanee Cty_________________$95,000 Cost
Taylor Cty__________________$160,500 Cost
Union County____________NO animal Control
Volusia County_____________$1,445.990 Cost
Wakulla Cty_________________$250,000 Cost
Walton County_______________$149,841 Cost
Washington Cty______________$132,101 Cost

Total: Total cost of animal control in one year (2008) in the State of Florida: 
$93,953,431 (almost $94 MILLION DOLLARS of tax payers' money yearly) and represents hundreds of thousands of killed companion animals most of them nothing wrong with them.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,