Outspoken Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is known for his controversial views on immigration and prison management. But Thursday, he took a hard-line stance on a topic constituents are sure to love: cracking down on animal abuse.
The sheriff of Maricopa County visited San Diego Thursday as a guest speaker at Helen Woodward Animal Center’s 3rd Annual Business of Saving Lives Conference.
Arpaio’s talk focused on his program that kicks inmates out of cells and jails dogs and cats, giving them life sentences to save their lives. The jail shelter was created about 15 years in response to cat slayings in Phoenix.
“I had an idea. Everybody loves their animals. I'm going to do something,” said Arpaio. “At the same time, about 300 inmates were destroying the plumbing in our only air-conditioned jail at the time.”
So Arpaio decided to move out the inmates and move in abused animals. His one rule: there is no euthanasia.
"The inmates take care of the animals. They get to love the animals,” he said. “It's a two-way street, so there's some therapy involved here too, trying to help the inmates."
Arpaio’s ideas are some of dozens to be shared this weekend at the convention. The goal, according to Helen Woodward’s President and CEO Mike Arms, is to teach animal shelters how to run as businesses.
Local
"A lot of shelters throughout the country and around the world run themselves as a mom and pop candy store,” said Arms. “They don't know the first thing about marketing and advertising."
Arms hopes to give them the skills to sustain their operations, which can in turn save pets’ lives through decreased euthanasia.
His strategy is easy to sum up.
"Take the cutest, most mushy-faced puppy or kitten that you have on TV; 20 families will come down for that one. That one will get adopted, but five others will get adopted because of the exposure that you bring," he said.
While it may bring him political brownie points, Arpaio said his actions on this issue, which include dedicating five detectives to animal abuse cases, is more than politics.
"This is one of my top priorities. Mahatma Gandhi said you judge the morality of a country by the way they treat their animals. I feel those were great words,” the sheriff said.
