Animal welfare advocates have until Sept. 10 to presell 2,000 pet-adoption license plates in an effort to make the plates official next year.

So far, advocates have sold about 1,750 of them. The deadline had been Sept. 1, but the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles agreed to extend the deadline until Wednesday.

The plate features 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 $25 plates, the Legislature will consider making them available in Maine next fall. Specialty plates cost more than regular plates, and 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.

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