Urgent ~ The zoning officials in Arlington and Fairfax Counties have cited AFH volunteers for keeping foster dogs in their homes

Posted from the ASPCA Online Community
From: Tracey Smith pawsforthecause(at)hotmail(dot)com

The zoning officials in Arlington and Fairfax Counties have cited AFH volunteers for keeping foster dogs in their homes. The citations do not claim that there are too many dogs, or that the volunteers don’t have a right to keep dogs - repeat - there is no violation regarding too many dogs or a lack of care - we have NOT done anything wrong. The claim is that, since the dogs are associated with a rescue group, they are considered to be “for commercial purposes”. Commercial uses are prohibited in residential districts. If the dogs were not rescue dogs, there would be no problem. This is our issue - foster homes - ours and yours - could conceivably be shut down for good if we are considered a 'commercial' operation.

What you should do NOW :

Contact everyone on the list below with your opinion.

Spread the Word:
Post it on your websites.
Put it in your newsletters.

GET THE WORD OUT. If you don't, there is a very real possibility that rescue in Virginia will be eliminated. I am not exaggerating this point - this is SERIOUS. Contact everyone regardless of where you live. Remember - your county could be next. PLEASE - be polite and professional but FIRM.

Some points to include in your email:
1. You support rescue - tell them why
2. Foster homes are NOT commercial. Neither the foster nor the rescue profits.
3. If rescue is stopped, tens of thousands more animals will die every year.
4. If rescue is stopped, it will cost the County/State thousands and thousands of dollars (because rescue saves them money by taking animals they would otherwise kill - which costs taxpayers $$)
5. If the people you are contacting are elected officials - you will not vote for them again.
6. If rescue is stopped, you will limit your spending in those counties as much as possible.
7. The rural shelters that we help will suffer even more since they have so much less than we do now. If we couldn't help them, a 100% kill rate in their shelters is possible.
8. If you are not a rescuer (just an animal lover), this impacts you too - write to these people about how you would feel about rescue going away and tens of thousands of additional animals dying every year.You guys are all good at this - you have the facts. Use your heart to write the rest.

Contacts:
Arlington County:
Arlington County Board of Supervisors: countyboard@ arlingtonva. usJ. Walter Tejada/Chairman wtejada@ arlingtonva. usBarbara Favola, Member/ViceChair bfavola@ arlingtonva. usJay Fisette, Member jfisette@ arlingtonva. usMary Hynes, Member mhynes@ arlingtonva. usChristopher Zimmerman/Member czimmerman@ arlingtonva. usArlington Zoning Administrator Melinda Artman martman@ arlingtonva. us

Fairfax County:Fairfax County Board of Supervisors http://www.fairfaxc/ ounty.gov/ opa/aboutbos. htm:Gerald E. Connolly/Chair chairman@ fairfaxcounty. govSharon Bulova/ViceChair braddock@ fairfaxcounty. govJohn W. Foust/Dranesville Dist. dranesville@ fairfaxcounty. govMichael R. Frey/Sully Dist. sully@ fairfaxcounty. govPenelope A. Gross/Mason Dist. mason@ fairfaxcounty. gov(Mr.) Pat Herrity/Springfield Dist. springfield@ fairfaxcounty. govCatherine M. Hudgins/Hunter Mill Dist. hntrmill@ fairfaxcounty. govGerald W. Hyland/Mt. Vernon Dist. mtvernon@ fairfaxcounty. govJeff C. McKay/Lee District leedist@ fairfaxcounty. govLinda Q. Smyth/Providence Dist. provdist@ fairfaxcounty. govFairfax Zoning Administrator Eileen M. McLane eileen.mclane@ fairfaxcounty. gov

General Assembly:
Senate – Fairfax County
George L. Barker district39@ sov.state.va. usKen Cuccinelli district37@ sov.state.va. usMark R. Herring district33@ sov.state.va. usJanet Howell district32@ sov.state.va. usChap Petersen district34@ sov.state.va. usToddy Puller district36@ sov.state.va. usRichard L. Saslaw district35@ sov.state.va. us

House of Delegates – Fairfax County
David B. Albo DelDAlbo@ house.state. va.usKristen J. Amundson DelKAmundson@ house.state. va.usDavid L. Bulova DelDBulova@ house.state. va.usC. Charles Caputo DelCCaputo@ house.state. va.usAdam P. Ebbin DelAEbbin@ house.state. va.usTimothy D. Hugo DelTHugo@ house.state. va.usRobert D. Hull DelRHull@ house.state. va.usDavid W. Marsden DelDMarsden@ house.state. va.usBrian J. Moran DelBMoran@ house.state. va.usKenneth R. Plum DelKPlum@ house.state. va.usThomas D. Rust DelTRust@ house.state. va.usJames M. Scott DelJScott@ house.state. va.usStephen C. Shannon DelSShannon@ house.state. va.usMark D. Sickles DelMSickles@ house.state. va.usMargaret G. Vanderhye DelMVanderhye@ house.state. va.usVivian E. Watts DelVWatts@ house.state. va.us

Senate – Arlington County
Patricia S. Ticer district30@ sov.state.va. usalso covers part of Fairfax CountyMary Margaret Whipple district31@ sov.state.va. usalso covers part of Fairfax County

House of Delegates – Arlington County
Robert H. Brink DelRBrink@ house.state. va.usAlbert C. Eisenberg DelAEisenberg@ house.state. va.usDavid L. Englin DelDEnglin@ house.state. va.us

Email list:
countyboard@ arlingtonva. us. wtejada@ arlingtonva. us, bfavola@ arlingtonva. us, jfisette@ arlingtonva. us, mhynes@ arlingtonva. us, czimmerman@ arlingtonva. us, martman@ arlingtonva. us, chairman@ fairfaxcounty. gov, braddock@ fairfaxcounty. gov, dranesville@ fairfaxcounty. gov, sully@ fairfaxcounty. gov, mason@ fairfaxcounty. gov, springfield@ fairfaxcounty. gov, hntrmill@ fairfaxcounty. gov, mtvernon@ fairfaxcounty. gov, leedist@ fairfaxcounty. gov, provdist@ fairfaxcounty. gov, eilleen.mclane@ fairfaxcounty. gov, district39@ sov.state.va. us, district37@ sov.state.va. us, district33@ sov.state.va. us, district32@ sov.state.va. us, district34@ sov.state.va. us, district36@ sov.state.va. us, district35@ sov.state.va. us, DelDAlbo@ house.state. va.us, DelKAmundson@ house.state. va.us, DelDBulova@ house.state. va.us, DelCCaputo@ house.state. va.us, DelAEbbin@ house.state. va.us, DelTHugo@ house.state. va.us, DelRHull@ house.state. va.us, DelDMarsden@ house.state. va.us, DelBMoran@ house.state. va.us, DelKPlum@ house.state. va.us, DelTRust@ house.state. va.us, DelJScott@ house.state. va.us, DelSShannon@ house.state. va.us, DelMSickles@ house.state. va.us, DelMVanderhye@ house.state. va.us, DelVWatts@ house.state. va.us, district30@ sov.state.va. us, district31@ sov.state.va. us, DelRBrink@ house.state. va.us, DelAEisenberg@ house.state. va.us, DelDEnglin@ house.state. va.us

Also visit: Fairfax County Office of Public Affairs

Please act NOW unless you want rescue to disappear.