The now-closed First Avenue Prison in downtown Phoenix houses MASH units. It stands for Maricopa Animal Safe Haven, a unit that cares for and rehabilitates dozens of animals rescued by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.
Cathy Richie/KJZZ
Animals that are victims of abuse or neglect may be sent to the Maricopa Animal Shelter, also known as MASH.
Alicia Cates has been working in the MCSO MASH unit for about six months.
“I take care of animals,” she said. “We feed them, clean up after bathroom breaks, socialize them, but I feel the most important thing is for them to rehabilitate to find their forever home. increase.”
Cates is not in law enforcement and is not a veterinarian or veterinary technician. She is serving a one-year prison sentence. And I hope what she’s doing here will give her the marketable skills to do this kind of work when she’s released in about five and a half months.
meet cyrus
“This is Cyrus! We call him the Cyrus of the virus, but you know this is our potato or couch potato,” Cates said.
Cates is socializing and rehabbing Silas, an older, wide-eyed pitbull.
“He’s come a long way. He was very aggressive with toys in the beginning, very aggressive with your face. He’s not aggressive with toys anymore.” she said.
Animal trainers come to MASH each week to help inmates like Cates through the rehabilitation process. This takes time and a lot of patience.
Cathy Richie/KJZZ
Alicia Cates works in rehab with her cute pitbull Cyrus.
“As you can see, he was really naughty when I came out, but by keeping him on this lead, we built trust, we built bonds, we built respect for each other, and it made them Make it easy to train.” “
Cyrus came to MASH from a domestic violence situation. His goal is to eventually get these animals to the point where they can be adopted, but that’s not always easy, said the sergeant. Terrell Shereen. He’s MASH’s program supervisor, supervising Cates and the other prisoners here today.
“Some people are interested [in Cyrus], but it’s always his age. And although he doesn’t get along with other dogs, he loves humans. [he’s] I have great relationships with people,” Sherine said.
“Transformational” experience
Sherine said most inmates have no idea what to expect when they first come here, but for many, including Cates, who was convicted of manslaughter in 2021, the job has been transformative. It is said that it brings
“I asked why I was here and why God put me here,” she said. “And I found my purpose in life, here at MASH,” Cates said.
“They rehabilitate the animals, and they rehabilitate themselves,” Sherine said. “And that’s exactly what this program was designed for.”
Cathy Richie/KJZZ
Sergeant Terrell Shereen and Sgt. Paul Taylor works inside a MASH unit that houses dozens of cats and dogs.
four legged victim
MASH units have housed abused and neglected animals since approximately 2000. In the old prison he holds more than 100 animals. These animals are either confiscated as evidence or kept here because their owners are dead and have no next of kin.
Sergeant Paul Taylor has been with MASH for a little over three years. “We now have 43 dogs and 69 cats,” he says. “There were about 285 animals at one time. It was cats, dogs, birds, lizards and snakes.”
And often these animals come to MASH in poor shape.
“They usually come from very deplorable circumstances, often in many cases. Hoarding incidents are one of the common incidents we see,” he said.
Additionally, there are cases of physical abuse, which can be particularly challenging as animals are more reactive and can be more difficult to rehabilitate. In fact, that’s one of the reasons women inmates work here.
“Because most abusers are men, so if it’s male aggression, it’s a problem that we have to take seriously,” Sherine said.
It’s really small steps from there. They try to identify what is triggering the animal. Once it turns out, it’s a matter of desensitizing the animal to that trigger.
“And we basically have to overcome the wall that they don’t trust us,” Sergeant said. Taylor. “And it’s a process that takes time.”
Cathy Richie/KJZZ
MASH will keep animals for as long as needed. They once had a diabetic cat that he lived with for 10 years at MASH.
growing problem
The good news, says Cates, is that many of these animals are finding permanent homes. But animal cruelty and neglect is a serious problem, Sherine said.
“It’s almost tripled every year since about 2000,” Sherine says.
There are also cases of animal abuse and hoarding.
“This is also related to the fact that more people are moving to the Valley, so as the population grows, similar crimes are starting to rise,” Sherine said.
life after mash
For Cates, her time at MASH will soon come to an end. However, her life could be difficult after she was convicted of a felony. So what happens next?
“My goal is to go out and hopefully open my own animal sanctuary so I can provide jobs for other felons like me,” Cates said. “And I want to change not only the future of animals, but also the future of felons.”
