GOVERNMENT
Paws for concern Pinal County is killing dogs for the first time in 6 years. Overfull and understaffed, it rejects a solution with 97% support BY KYLIE WERNER
at full capacity and that for the first time in six years it would start euthanizing for space. Many residents like Banford said they felt the solution to the issue was staring them in the face — a new shelter in Maricopa, the county’s most populous city where feral animals this year were declared a crisis. An October InMaricopa poll of 532 city residents found a head-turning 97% said an animal shelter was a “need” in the city. “Not only does the city need a shelter, it needs resources for these feral [cats] and for the pets,” Banford said. InMaricopa contacted city to ask if such resources could exist here. “Currently, the city of Maricopa partners with Pinal County to shelter rescued and stray animals, averaging just two to three animals per week,” said spokesperson Monica Williams. “Establishing a dedicated animal shelter would require a significant investment, potentially funded by taxpayers. Fortunately, our collaboration with the county allows us to meet our community’s needs while keeping costs minimal.” She said Ziccardi’s primary task is to educate pet owners about the importance of microchipping their animals for quick reunification if they become lost and encouraging the securing of doors, fencing and gates to prevent pets from escaping. Kelly Anderson, executive director of the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce, said she felt the current set up wasn’t working after conversations with residents in Thunderbird Farms and Hidden Valley and the owners of The Gud Ark animal sanctuary and Little Whiskers Rescue. “It’s a real problem here and with 70,000 people and our own animal control and animal management issues, now we have the Valley dumping more on us,” Anderson said. “Quite frankly, in my opinion, being the largest city in Pinal County, we’re really underserved when it comes to county resources.” Anderson emphasized the benefits of having a shelter in town. “When people lose their animals or somebody finds an animal, having one location, like an animal shelter, that can hold that pet for a day or whatever it takes to be reunited with the owner would be super helpful,” Anderson said. “I think if we had animal shelter here, it might assist our community with setting up and launching some sort of TNR [trap, neuter, release] program to also address our feral cat population.”
A Pinal County Animal Care and Control employee washes dog bowls in the shelter’s kitchen area.
McCarthy said owners who want to surrender their pets are meant to file paperwork with the rescue ahead of the surrender, but too many simply dump their animals without any documentation. Most recently, there was a box of 11 kittens dumped at Jennifer Ferguson’s house in May. Ferguson is one of the fosters for the rescue. McCarthy likened the feral cat situation to a zombie apocalypse. “They’re everywhere,” McCarthy said. “If you don’t think about them or know about them, you don’t really see them, but once you do you, you start seeing them everywhere. You’ll see them behind businesses, in sewers, subdivisions and front yards.” People don’t like seeing feral cats on their property, McCarthy said, “so they call us, yelling at us to remove them. We’re not animal control.” Ferguson said Ziccardi has only responded to calls for injured cats because he told her otherwise, “the calls would never stop coming.” “Welcome to our lives,” McCarthy said. According to data from the city, animal control calls have increased sharply over the past four years from 347 calls in 2021 to 966 this year. Of those calls in 2021, six were for vicious dogs and 59 were for barking dogs. It is projected
M
Local rescues left to pick up the pieces
An analysis of five large community Facebook groups in Maricopa this year alone found thousands of posts about loose and feral dogs. Even groups that had set rules against posting such notices averaged multiple per day. Banford claimed even when Maricopa Animal Control Officer Luke Ziccardi is on duty Monday through Thursday, he often is unable to take loose dogs to the Pinal County Animal Care and Control shelter, which is perpetually full. A rescue partner of PCACC, Home Is Where the Hound Is, recently announced the shelter was
ARICOPA IS A CITY THAT PUTS ITS rocks in cages but not its pets. “We moved to Maricopa almost five years ago from Washington State
A Pinal County Animal Care and Control employee walks a dog back to its kennel Oct. 30.
Little Whiskers is a volunteer-run rescue that has been helping TNR the feral cat population and tending stray cats, feral moms and their kittens since 2018. According to owner Brittney McCarthy, the rescue today has 61 cats between its nine foster houses. During its last fiscal year, which ended in August, the rescue had custody of 781 cats. “Most of them are going to be strays,” McCarthy said. “They’re either strays or they’re feral babies and feral mamas. I would say that about 30% are owner surrenders.”
and the amount of loose, dumped and unwanted animals out here is insane,” said Rancho El Dorado resident Shannon Slettvet Banford. “It gets progressively worse every year, especially since the pandemic. “Dumped dogs run through neighborhoods all the time, often on weekends, when there is no animal control officer on duty.”
InMaricopa.com | December 2024
December 2024 | InMaricopa.com
8
9
Powered by FlippingBook