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"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
-- Sir Winston Churchill
Program Details | Bill Text | Legislative History
Sales Data | Comments
STATUS: AVAILABLE
Please send us up-to-date information if you are working on, or have additional information about this program.
GET THE PLATES
The plate costs $50, of which $25 is tax deductible for the buyer. A plate can be obtained by mailing a $25 check to any Maryland Shelter or Rescue group registered with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.
The organization will then return a signed application to you, which you must then present to a local office of the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration with the remaining $25 of the $50 fee. MVA will send the ordered license plate by mail. The cost to maintain the plate is $25 for each following year, paid to the MVA.
//All Maryland non profit shelters and rescue groups are eligible to sell the plates, so if a group you wish to support is not listed, they can sign up with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.//
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Collaborate and communicate with others working on AFLP around the nation and in Maryland.
PROGRAM DETAILS
The Maryland "Spay and Neuter" license plate is set up as a combination between an organizational and commemorative plate. Commemorative plates may be purchased by any Maryland resident, and Organizational plates may only be purchased by an organization's membership. In the case of the Maryland PET (Spay/Neuter) plates, any member of the public may purchase the plate, but only by purchasing through a Maryland non profit shelter or rescue group.
Slogan: "Spay and Neuter"
Fee: $50 first year ($25 to the non profit organization and $25 to the MVA)
Amount to Spay-Neuter: $25 first year only
Balance:
Fund: Not Applicable
Fund Administrator: Not Applicable
Fund Disbursement: See List of Registered Organizations
To register with the MVA
You must be a Maryland Shelter or Rescue group.
Email: organization@mdot.state.md.us or call Mary. Beard at 410-787-2968 for more information. (Note: to obtain a license plate for your car, please do not contact Ms. Beard. You must contact your local animal shelter or rescue group directly.)
MARYLAND STATUTE
AN ACT concerning Vehicle Laws - Animal Friendly License Plates
FOR the purpose of requiring the Governor to appoint a committee to design an emblem or logo for use on organizational license plates by animal humane societies or similar organizations for specified purposes; specifying the membership of the committee; authorizing the committee to solicit suggestions from certain groups; providing that the final design is subject to the approval of the Motor Vehicle Administration; specifying legislative intent concerning use of the emblem or logo; clarifying that certain fees might be charged by eligible organizations and that the fees are intended for certain purposes; providing for the termination of certain provisions of this Act; and generally relating to the issuance of organizational registration plates relating to the management of the population of dogs and cats.
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That
(a) The Governor shall appoint a committee to design an emblem or logo for display on organizational license plates issued under § 13-619 of the Transportation Article for use by animal humane societies or similar organizations throughout the State to:
(1) enhance public awareness of the State's commitment to manage the population of dogs and cats through sterilization; and
(2) help subsidize the efforts of the organizations to humanely sterilize dogs and cats.
(b) The committee shall consist of:
(1) five members representing animal humane societies or similar organizations from around the State; and
(2) the Motor Vehicle Administrator or the Administrator's designee.
(c) (1) In designing an emblem or logo under this section, the committee may solicit suggestions from animal humane societies or similar organizations throughout the State.
(2) The final design of an emblem or logo is subject to the approval of the Motor Vehicle Administration.
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That it is the intent of the General Assembly that, following adoption of an emblem or logo under Section 1 of this Act, any animal humane society or similar organization may apply to the Motor Vehicle Administration under § 13-619 of the Transportation Article and regulations of the Motor Vehicle Administration for an organizational license plate, using the emblem or logo adopted under Section 1 of this Act in combination with the name of the organization or an appropriate slogan approved by the Administration that relates to the issue of dog and cat population management. An animal humane society or similar organization that obtains an organizational license plate using the emblem or logo adopted under Section 1 of this Act may collect a fee set by the organization from any person seeking an organizational registration plate through the organization. The fee is intended to be for the purpose of humanely sterilizing dogs and cats and is in addition to any fee collected by the Motor Vehicle Administration under § 13-619 of the Transportation Article. The fee is to be collected directly by the organization and not the Motor Vehicle Administration.
SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 1998. Section 1 of this Act shall remain effective for a period of 9 months and, at the end of June 30, 1999, with no further action required by the General Assembly, Section 1 of this Act shall be abrogated and of no further force and effect.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Bill Sponsor(s):
Supporting Organization(s):
Background:
SALES DATA
Quantity sold: Total - 2,046 (per MVA - 1999 to 8/2004)
Amount raised: Total - $51,150 (based on MVA 8/04 numbers @ $25/plate)
824 (total to 1/2001 estimated # from the MVA)
$20,600? (based on MVA numbers)
COMMENTS
We are working to obtain more detailed information for Maryland. We are verifying the list of registered organizations, the, sales by year and the recorded amounts raised. We are also reviewing and clarifying some of the legislation and program process.
Senator Roy Dyson's Newsletter
SENATE OF MARYLAND
ANNAPOLIS. MARYLAND 214O1-1991
By Sen. Roy Dyson
This appears to be the year of the license plate in the Maryland General Assembly. Several legislators, including myself, have introduced bills creating new motor vehicle license plates in the state. Mine, Senate Bill (SB) 488, establishes a special license plate for supporters of dog and cat sterilization programs. This is a serious bill which I feel has a very good chance of passage. Let me explain the impetus for it and what it hopes to accomplish.
Although SB 488 is a state-wide bill, the request to have it introduced came from my district. Rosalind Tyler, president of the St. Mary's Animal Welfare League, provided my office with information on what other states had done with similar license plates and requested that we investigate it and possibly do the same thing in Maryland.
Animal overpopulation is an increasing problem which manifests itself in large numbers of stray dogs and cats. Unwanted domestic animals are dumped along the side of the road. Or, when they wander away from home their owners make no attempt to find them.
Dogs and cats, once they are left in the wild, must fend for themselves. More often than not they are hit by cars. Others are trapped by animal control agencies and end up at animal shelters. In Southern Maryland 80 percent of the 10,000 dogs and cats which arrive at the Tri-County Animal Shelter don't get adopted or reclaimed. That's 8,000 potentially good pets which are killed every year in just the three Southern Maryland counties.
The animals which survive in the wild breed and their offspring are wild and dangerous to the general population. They can transmit rabies and bite children. If they make it they become a financial burden on government to pick them up and shelter them.
Even though animal control is usually a government responsibility in the state's counties, there is no real unified government approach to reducing the stray animal population. The ultimate solution is to cut down on the number of unwanted animals by cutting down on indiscriminate breeding. This is accomplished by increasing the number of domestic animals which are spayed or neutered. Unfortunately many people are unable or unwilling to pay for these simple and safe procedures. That's where low-cost or no-cost
Even though animal control is usually a government function, many animal shelters are run by volunteer groups with precious few resources. Their spay/neuter effort is uneven, with success depending on a county's financial ability and their fundraising success. This bill will give a booster shot of money to those programs.
The bill creates a special license plate similar to the Chesapeake Bay one. A extra fee, over and above the regular fee plus the cost of administering, would be charged, just like the Bay plates. The proceeds would be returned to the counties and Baltimore City in proportion to the number of plates sold in each jurisdiction. They would in turn issue grants for spay/neuter programs. This bill costs the state nothing and provides needed funding.
Maryland had three types of license plates: the basic one that most people have; the special commemorative plate for the Bay; and organizations plates, such as those for VFW posts and fire departments. The animal friendly license plate would add a second plate to the commemorative category.
There are several other bills here this year which would add other plates for other issues. I think these are win/win situations. I don't believe they will take away from the Bay plates, which have their own constituencies. Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Virginia have animal friendly license plates. The New Jersey program has raised more than a million dollars in several years.
I also might add that there was a bill filed which has been withdrawn, which would have eliminated the organizational plates. No doubt the sponsor was inundated with opposition. I support those plates and hope the effort to eliminate them will not resurface. I know many organizations take pride in these plates and they should be allowed to continue.
The hearing on SB 488 is scheduled for Wednesday, February 19 at 1 p.m. in the Senate Judiciary Committee. I hope a lot of you can come up and testify. Hopefully in the future we can drive down the road and see a license plate with a picture of a dog and a cat and say, what a great idea. And just think, the idea originated in Southern Maryland.
Posted on May 14, 1999 at 23:26:00:
Attention all pet lovers. Soon, you will be able to adorn your car with a commemorative license plate that will show your support for controlling the pet population. A year and a half after a bill sponsored by Senator Roy Dyson (D-Calvert, St. Mary's) that would create a commemorative license plate to pay for local spay or neuter programs for pets passed into law, the plates should be available this June.
"I anticipate they will be ready by June," said Eltra Nelson, Chair of the Animal Friendly License Plates Committee who also works at the Motor Vehicle Administration.
The six-member committee appointed by Governor Glendening agreed that the license plate alphas down the left side of the plate will read "PET." The bottom of the license plate will display the words "Spay and Neuter." The red logo will feature a Chesapeake Bay Retriever and a cat.
The cost of the plates will be $50 with $25 going to the area shelter or humane organization in the county where the buyer of the plate resides. The other $25 will go to MVA towards the cost of the plate, Nelson said. The plates can be purchased at a local humane society, not at MVA.
"The committee did an outstanding job coming up with this commemorative plate," said Senator Dyson. "I'm pleased that through this program, money we didn't have before for spaying and neuter programs will be available to animal shelters throughout the state. I was very proud of this bill and I'm delighted to see that finally the plates will be visible on our local roads in a few weeks. These plates will help cut down on the number of unwanted pets and that makes me very happy. Through its commitment to the creation of these plates, the Animal Friendly Committee has ensured that a great number of pets will not suffer tragic ends by euthanasia in pet shelters or violent deaths on our roadways. I encourage all pet lovers to go to their local animal shelters or humane societies to purchase these unique commemorative plates."
Maryland Archives
ANIMAL FRIENDLY LICENSE-PLATE COMMITTEE
Acting Chair: Eltra E. Nelson, designee of Motor Vehicle Administrator Appointed by Governor: Frank C. Branchini; Carol Crane; Aileen O. Gabbey; Merry Ellen Poole; Laura Wasson. Terms expired 1999.
c/o Central Operations
Motor Vehicle Administration
6601 Ritchie Highway, NE, Room 120
Glen Burnie, MD 21062
(410) 787-2983
e-mail: vleen@mdot.state.md.us
fax: (410) 787-2912
In December 1998, the Governor appointed the Animal Friendly License-Plate Committee (Chapter 580, Acts of 1998). The Committee's charge was to design an emblem or logo for display on license plates issued by the Motor Vehicle Administration for use by animal humane societies or similar organizations. The purpose of these plates is to inform the public of the State's committment to manage the population of dogs and cats through sterilization, and help subsidize efforts of organizations to humanely sterilize dogs and cats. After submitting recommendations regarding license plates, the Committee disbanded in June 1999.
Prevent a Litter Coalition, Inc.
Post Office Box 9294, Reston, VA 20195