The Apache County Sheriff's Office said approximately Police, who serve a population of 65,000, maintain that the deputies did nothing wrong that day in September. Chief Deputy Sheriff Roscoe Herrera said the county doesn't have an animal control service, so deputies have discretion to handle animal issues as they see fit. Deputy Sheriff Jarrod Toadechiene declined to comment.
But the incident in Adamana, Arizona, an unincorporated community about 100 miles east of Flagstaff, has infuriated local animal rights groups, who say shooting the dogs is the wrong solution and that the area needs to urgently address animal mass breeding and abandonment. Some residents have started Facebook groups to help find the owners of the abandoned dogs and expose people who are illegally breeding animals.
“The Apache County Sheriff's Office is doing nothing to solve this problem,” said Theresa Shuman, the nonprofit's founder. Northern Arizona Animal Search and Rescue“Animals are dying all over the county.”
Molly Ottman, Editor in Chief Mountain Daily Starfirst obtained Body camera footage of the incident And shared it From The Washington Post.
Dogs that were shot Toadechiney wrote in his incident report that the home was owned by a divorced couple who had abandoned it. He wrote that he visited the home multiple times over a three-week period after neighbors complained. Regarding canines.
On his first visit, he counted 10 dogs, “all of which appeared to be in good health,” and a few days later, he was called to the scene after a call about the dogs chasing a neighbor's donkey, the deputy wrote.
Toedechieni contacted Shuman, who was struggling to find a new home for the dog when she got a call from the sheriff, who said, “We'll take care of it.” Shuman said the sheriff told her that if the dog was feral, it may need to be euthanized.
On September 22, Schumann told Toadette Chiney that he had not found a new owner for the dog, and after telling his supervisor that he was going to shoot the dog, Schumann bought dog food and a tray and collected water from the fire station.
Toadechiney then went to the couple's property, corralled the dogs with food and water, put on headphones and began shooting at them, body camera footage shows. Toadechiney shot one of the dogs two more times as it continued to move.
Both dogs escaped unharmed and hid under a shed. Schumann then took them to a local animal shelter. One died of parvovirus shortly after arriving, and the other was adopted, said Brandon Smigiel, Holbrook Animal Care and Control Supervisor.
In the incident report, Toadechiney said: The man who allegedly abandoned the dogs could be charged with animal cruelty, although no charges had been filed as of Friday, according to county records.
Undersheriff Herrera acknowledged the situation has caused “distress” in the community.
“This tragic decision was made under extremely difficult circumstances, including limited resources, the deliberate neglect and abandonment of the dog by its former owner, and significant time spent seeking outside assistance,” he said in a statement to The Washington Post.
In a separate statement, KPNX 12 News On June 6, the sheriff's office appeared to cite a lack of funds as the cause.
“Apache County does not have an Animal Care and Control department. In unincorporated areas, that responsibility falls to deputy sheriffs, and the actions taken vary and are considered on a case-by-case basis. We do not have the infrastructure or budget to support such a department.”
Shuman, who runs a nonprofit rescue group, said she never expected the deputy would shoot the animals.
“It makes me angry when the sheriff's office says they don't have the resources.” She says the animals' situation needs to be addressed differently: “There are a lot of people trying to help.”
The Arizona Humane Society said the situation was “completely preventable” and lamented that the sheriff's office did not contact them. Ask for help.
“This horrific case shows a complete lack of compassion and judgment,” Humane Society spokeswoman Jennifer Armbruster said in a statement, “and most clearly, the establishment of animal care and control services in Apache County is absolutely necessary to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Teri Hoffman, founder of the animal rights group Animal Animal Center, said animal husbandry in Arizona has reached “epidemic levels” and is creating dangerous conditions. Arizona Animal Rights AdvocatesLast summer, three pit bull mutts Attacking a 2-year-old It left an Apache County girl dead. Still, Hoffman said she wants to hold deputy sheriffs accountable and that killing abandoned dogs is not an appropriate solution to dog overpopulation.
“I've been to homes with over 53 dogs,” Hoffman said, “and some people have loads of horses and goats. I've seen dogs with open wounds and severe infections. Animals have died.”
