PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office helps abused animals through its MASH unit, which also helps integrate inmates back into the community.
MASH stands for the Maricopa County Sheriff Office’s Animal Safe Haven.
Inmates can volunteer to learn and provide care to pets that are seized in animal cruelty cases and oftentimes even used as evidence.
“We have an animal crimes investigations unit, and they will take complaints that are brought in by the public. They go out on site and serve a search warrant,” Sgt. Gary Miller told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.
“We collect all the animals, bring them all back to the First Avenue Jail.”
Then, Miller says, the inmates take over in helping care for the pets.
“We train working inmates in animal care. We utilize the inmates as a learning environment for them to help us nurse the animals back to health,” he said.
Miller says inmates are vetted through a system that allows a select few to help with the program.
Animal cruelty on the rise
Statewide, violent animal abuse has been on the rise, according to the Arizona Humane Society.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs recently signed a bill addressing the rise in animal-related crimes.
Furthermore, Miller said Sheriff Jerry Sheridan has a hard stance on animal abusers.
“There’s an old saying in the jail system that there’s two things you don’t mess with: animals and children,” Miller said.
The MASH program is helping to alleviate the problem.
How are prisoners chosen to MASH?
The selection process has multiple steps to make sure the prisoners are deemed safe before they are sent to help pets and animals with medical care.
“We actually have a system we vet them through,” Miller said. “We look at their crimes. We look at their discipline history. We look if they have any animal charges or really dangerous charges, and every inmate that works for us is a volunteer. They have to apply,” he said.
“It’s the best job in the county because we get to see animals change and people change,” Miller said.
The post Inmates and animals thriving through MCSO’s MASH unit appeared first on KTAR.
