Voices - CF is the Central Florida (Orange and Brevard Counties) spin off of Voices for Ella. We are:
There are numerous cases of animal abuse in Brevard County that go unnoticed and unpunished. We believe most people in our community are against the abuse of companion animals. We want to bring awareness of the magnitude of the problem to the community – not by talking about gory details so much as letting people know that we have a problem and it is not being resolved on its own.
We want to make it aware to those involved in the judicial system that the citizens are interested and concerned about the outcome of animal abuse/cruelty/neglect cases.
In our early stages of growth, we are somewhat of a “watchdog”. We gather information on cases, noting how the cases are handled by the authorities in animal law enforcement and by the judicial system. In this way we are building a basis for us to measure where the strengths and weaknesses are in our current enforcement as well as our current legislation. From that point we will know where the improvements are needed and will report such to the courts and community. We strive to maintain open communication and maintain credibility with all agencies. We expect the judicial system to meet certain standards such as; being consistent, follow the law, and hold the offenders accountable. We have a courtwatch team that attends court hearings and keeps notes on how all officials behave toward these cases. The court desicions are posted on our website.
While doing the above, we are also active in many cases. Members of the community reach out to us when they are faced with a frustrating situation in their neighborhood. We respect all wishes for confidentiality. At times we are facilitators who mediate between the neighborhood and animal control in order to get a workable solution. We also bring in other resources in order to help rescue some of the animal victims. Sometimes all we do is explain how the system works.
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