Cheyenne
10-16-2007, 11:35 AM
Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray
animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department
over, and the County Supervisors said okay.
The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They
feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and
walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal
nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to
adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given
them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.
The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million.
Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years
ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even
had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most
would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his
budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners
out of the fees collected for adopted animals.
I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the
way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm,
donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most
of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by
hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and
fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work,
and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and
plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.
Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and
vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it
where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and
Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies
trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline,
and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind
of a "Git-R Done" kind of Sheriff.
animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department
over, and the County Supervisors said okay.
The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They
feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and
walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal
nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to
adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given
them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.
The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million.
Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years
ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even
had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most
would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his
budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners
out of the fees collected for adopted animals.
I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the
way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm,
donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most
of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by
hand. He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and
fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work,
and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and
plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.
Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and
vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it
where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and
Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies
trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline,
and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind
of a "Git-R Done" kind of Sheriff.