I am personally asking if you will consider visiting the Panama City News Herald’s Web site at www.newsherald.com to vote “YES” on its online referendum regarding Dogs on Shell Island, and if you will also send this information to any and all persons that might be willing to help us. We have been sent copies of emails from Audubon officials asking their organizations nationwide to email their members to weigh in and skew this poll in their favor. Prior to those emails going out on Friday, the local poll was 87 percent in favor of allowing dogs on Shell Island.
As background, large portions of this island were bought with taxpayer dollars as a recreational resource. Now there is a contingent of bird enthusiasts that are trying to strong-arm officials into making it into a preserve that citizens will not be able to visit unsupervised. The first salvo in this effort is banning boaters with dogs.
Dogs currently are not taken to any critical habitat areas – boaters frequent an area of the island that is platted as a county subdivision and in which many private lots and county roads still exist.
This isn’t necessarily a “dog” issue (though it is personally to me and more than 2,000 that have signed a petition). Rather, it is a personal freedom issue, and we need your help.
If you would like more information about this issue, please visit the Web site of Bay Families with Dogs at www.bayfwd.org
And if you believe in this cause and issue, I hope you will forward this email along to like-minded people.
Thank you so very much, and please let me know if I ever may return this personal favor.
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