AR-News: (AZ - US) Animal cruelty needs to be reported quickly

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

Animal cruelty needs to be reported quickly
   
Oscar, Pinal County Mascot April 20, 2004 
  
 
Hi, again! In keeping with our April theme, April being Animal Cruelty Prevention Month, I'm going to pass on a few more tips from Officer Annamarie Lucas from Animal Precinct. Office Lucas has some suggestions that are very important when it comes to reporting possible animal cruelty.  
She says, "Know who to call to report animal cruelty. We're lucky here at the ASPCA in New York City, because we have Humane Law Enforcement officers who have the power to investigate and arrest perpetrators of animal cruelty in the state of New York. But every state and even every town is different. In some areas, you may have to rely on the police department to investigate animal cruelty; in others, you may have to contact your local animal control or another municipal agency. If you aren't sure where to report cruelty, you can search our Humane Law Enforcement directory online or ask your local humane organization.
 
"Provide as much information as possible when reporting animal cruelty. The details that you provide can go a long way toward assisting the investigating officer. It helps to write down the type of cruelty that you witnessed, who was involved, the date of the incident and where it took place.

"Know your state's animal cruelty laws. They vary from state to state, and even from city to city. You can visit the ASPCA's Web site and get a wallet-sized printout, with outlines of the animal welfare laws in all 50 states.

"You can fight for the passage of strong anti-cruelty laws on federal, state and local levels by joining the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade. It's frustrating when I have built a strong case against someone who has been arrested for cruelty to animals and the judge treats it like a simple violation. But with stronger laws, they'll be more likely to receive tougher penalties. You'll receive e-mails asking you to write letters encouraging your legislators to pass these laws - and you can send them directly from our Web site."

I'll give your Officer Lucas' final three tips next week. However, I wanted to make sure you had the proper numbers for all the animal control agencies in our area. That way you can keep them handy.

The main number for Pinal County Animal Care & Control, the agency that handles animal control services for the unincorporated areas of Pinal County as well as Coolidge, Florence, Kearny and Mammoth, is 520-866-7600. After-hours calls for the towns are required to be reported through the local police department.

The daytime number for Casa Grande Animal Control is 520-426-9300; the after-hours number is 520-421-8700. Eloy Animal Control is reached through the Eloy Police Department at 520-466-3366. Apache Junction Animal Control has a daytime number of 480-983-4405; after-hours service is obtained through the Apache Junction Police Department at 480-982-8260. As always, it what you witnessed is an emergency, you can always dial 911.

The criminal animal cruelty laws for Arizona can be seen online at the Arizona State Web site. That address is http://www.azleg.state.az.us/. You look under the Arizona Revised Statutes and can see the cruelty laws under Title 13, section 2910.

With more people becoming aware of animal cruelty, what it is and how to report it, hopefully there will be a positive impact in stopping this behavior and improving the situation for animals in our county.

Speaking of improving lives, we have had the great good fortune of placing more wonderful pets in loving homes from our county shelters. As usual, the shelters are teeming with great dogs and cats just waiting for the right owner to come along. Our hours for adoption are from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. Hope to see you then!

This column is prepared by the Pinal County Animal Care and Control Department. 

 
©Casa Grande Valley Newspaper 2004