| For those of you who have not heard about this | | | | Now once the inmates are fully trained they in turn |
| throw caution to the wind Sheriff, he not long ago | | | | train anyone who comes into the animal shelter |
| painted jail cells pink and made inmates wear pink | | | | looking to adopt a pet. Some of things they teach |
| prison attire. In addition, he cut off coffee since it | | | | potential dog owners: All positive commands should |
| has zero nutritional value. When the inmates | | | | be spoken sharply and distinctly during puppy and |
| complained do you think the Sheriff felt guilty and | | | | dog training. Use a positive tone. Your dog will |
| gave in? Nope! Instead he told them "This isn't the | | | | recognize your moods and associate them to their |
| Ritz Carlton. If you don't like, don't come back." | | | | behavior by your tone of voice. |
| Sheriff Joe is seeing red again. This time, he is fed up | | | | The program is working beautifully because these |
| with the way Maricopa County is spending over $18 | | | | animals have been taken off the streets and given |
| million dollars a year on stray animals. So, instead | | | | to prisoners to care for until adopted. The county is |
| continuing to complain about the staggering amount | | | | thrilled because the budget is now under $3 million |
| of money being spent he offered to take the | | | | dollars a year. That is a huge savings. The prisoners |
| department over. The county supervisors agreed to | | | | are happy because they get to leave their cells and |
| the takeover to see if he could get spending under | | | | make .28¢ an hour. With labor being so cheap, |
| control. | | | | most of Sheriff Joe's budget is spent on utilities and |
| The first thing he did was to staff the animal shelters | | | | building maintenance. The prisoners get paid out of |
| with prisoners. These inmates are also responsible for | | | | the fees collected for the adopted pets. It's a |
| all operations of the facility. The prisoners feed and | | | | win-win situation for prisoners, animals, animal |
| nurture the cats, dogs and animals in general. They | | | | shelters, the county and those who adopt pets. As a |
| walk the animals twice a day. The prisoners who | | | | matter of fact, folks who have adopted dogs and |
| work for the department are trained to be experts | | | | other animals from the shelter are ecstatic because |
| in animal nutrition and behavior. For instance, one thing | | | | they receive their new pet neutered, current on all |
| they learn about is dog biology. A dog's biology is | | | | shots and in great health. |
| designed to eat bones and raw food. The reason for | | | | So, if Sheriff Joe can teach prison inmates to be |
| this is that their stomachs have a lower PH level than | | | | experts in animal nutrition, behavior and training I |
| humans, which is why they can eat raw meat and | | | | think that anyone can learn puppy and dog training. All |
| bones and humans can not. Dogs were never | | | | it requires is a little education, dedication and time. I |
| designed to eat grains and processed food. | | | | think your puppy or dog is worth it. Don't you? |