The dos were so neglected by their Buckeye, Arizona owner, that survival was a longshot. But with constant care by female inmates, Sheriff’s detention staff, and veterinarian care by Palm Glen Animal Hospital and Dr. Bernard Mangone, all but one labradoodle not only survived, but thrived.
They came to the Sheriff’s M.A.S.H. unit in September 2013 very weak, and today they are a healthy weight, have all their hair back and are free of tick fever.
For the first time since Sheriff Arpaio opened up the First Avenue Jail to house animals seized by his animal crimes unit from abusive and criminally neglectful owners in 2000, some of the animals are going to live lives beyond being adopted members of loving families.
Three of these labradoodles have been hand-picked by Arizona’s Foundation for Service Dog Support (FSDS) to become service dogs, trained to assist public servants like police, fire, clergy, military veterans and teachers who need either mobility, psychological service or medical alert dogs to assist them with their daily lives.
“I am so pleased by this turn of events,” says Sheriff Arpaio. “The MASH unit is a great program for the well-being man and animal, with inmates learning to care for animals which were once abused. But now for the first time in our history, we have animals going to be service dogs to assist human companions. It’s icing on the cake for all of us here at the Sheriff’s Office.”
At 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13, 2013, these labradoodle pups will bid farewell to all the inmates and staff who brought them back from the brink of death to go with their new caretakers/trainers to begin their new lives as assistance animals. Sally Cebulski, an FSDS official, will be taking the dogs to their new homes at that time. She will be available to explain why these dogs were chosen for the program while inmates and the Sheriff bid farewell to some of the cutest dogs this office has had in the MASH unit.