Valerie sent this to me by email. I checked it out with Snopes, and it's TRUE.
Maricopa County was spending approximately $18 million dollars a year on stray animals. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors agreed.
The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.
The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million.
The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities and building maintenance. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.
The rest of the country should take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work and grow their own fresh vegetables by hand. He has a pretty good-sized hog farm, which provides meat and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8.
Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote. He's a "Git-R- Dun" kind of Sheriff.
Would you vote for him?
