SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on
stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the
department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

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 exper ts 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. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter
two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health,
and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.

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, building maintenance, etc. He pays the
prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would 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 they grow
most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and
harvesting 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 for the Holidays, and
plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and