Animal welfare advocates must pre-sell 2,000 pet-adoption license plates by Sept. 1 if the plates have a chance of becoming official in Maine next year.

About 1,300 have been sold.

Advocates remain optimistic that they'll reach their goal in the next 10 days.

"It's very good if you consider that, typically, organizations are trying to do this type of thing over the course of two years instead of two months. So when you consider the crunch we're under, I think it's very favorable," said Catherine Frost, brand and product official at Planet Dog, the Portland-based company that started the initiative. "We're selling more than a hundred a week, which is very good."

Planet Dog and other animal welfare advocates, including the Humane Society of the United States, began pre-selling the plates on June 20. At the time, the plates featured the black silhouettes of a girl, a dog and a cat, with the words "rescue, raise, love, adopt" imprinted in a teal-colored strip along the bottom. Because of a copyright conflict, the design has changed to feature colorful silhouettes of a horse, dog, cat, rabbit and bird, with the words "respect, love, adopt" imprinted in a gold-colored strip along the bottom.

If advocates can get 2,000 people to buy the plates, the Legislature will consider making them available in Maine next fall. Specialty plates cost more than regular plates. The extra money would be sent to the state's Animal Welfare Program to help fund animal abuse investigations and to help pay for Help Fix ME, a low-cost spay/neuter program.

If advocates can't pre-sell 2,000 plates by Sept. 1, Frost said, they will keep selling the plates with the goal of reaching the Legislature in 2009.

People who pre-purchased the plates will get their money back if the plates aren't approved.

For more information or to pre-order the specialty license plate, visit www.planetdog.com/plate or call 761-1515.