From friends at IDA
http://www.guardiancampaign.com/gom.html"America's Toughest Sheriff" has a heart for needy animals
IDA's Guardian of the Month for July 2007, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is that rare breed of lawman who makes a special effort to serve and protect animals as well as people.
As Sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., Arpaio has been called "America's Toughest Sheriff." Heading up the third largest Sheriff's Office in the U.S. (which includes a jail system with over 10,000 inmates) is no easy task, but Arpaio has been meeting the challenge since 1993, having been re-elected to an unprecedented four terms. His popularity rests on his approach to rehabilitation and programs for preventing recidivism, as well as the unique concern he shows for animals.
In 2000, Sheriff Arpaio even converted one large jail into a shelter where abused and abandoned animals can find sanctuary. He created the no-kill MASH unit, located at First Avenue and Madison Street in Phoenix, after inmates sabotaged the plumbing in their cells. Sheriff Arpaio moved the convicts out of the building and into the nation's largest "Tent City," where 2000 people now live. He then moved dogs, cats, goats, chickens, rabbits, and other animals inside.
With the capacity to hold 300 animals, each dog has his or her own "room" (actually a redecorated jail cell) while cats live several to a cage. All of the animals are spayed or neutered and receive standard inoculations. Unlike the prisoners' Tent City nearby, the shelter is air conditioned to protect animals from the blistering Southwest heat. Female inmates provide care for the animals as part of an employment skills training program that may provide them with animal care jobs upon release.
Many animals in the MASH unit are seized as "evidence" in arrests, or because they were abused or neglected by their guardians. Depending on the court's ruling, which can take weeks or months, animals are either returned to their caretakers or adopted out to new homes. The shelter also boards animals whose guardians cannot take them to domestic violence shelters, and accepts animals from other Maricopa County animal shelters.
Sheriff Arpaio has spoken out for farmed animals as well, starring in a public service announcement in favor of the voter initiative to ban gestation crates for pregnant pigs in Arizona (which passed last year). He has also been outspoken about the link between animal cruelty and violence against human victims. "We know from history that every serial killer started out abusing animals," he told Best Friends News. "I had an executive of a big company murdered. He was taken out into the desert by three people for no reason and killed. After we caught them, we found out the shooter had killed his neighbor's cats."
This is the second time that IDA has honored Sheriff Arpaio. In 2005, we awarded him our prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Other recipients have included some of the most renowned advocates for animals and the environment in the world, such as environmentalist David Brower, labor leader Cesar Chavez, and primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. IDA proudly honors Sheriff Joe Arpaio again as our Guardian of the Month for July 2007.