Time Served = Death Sentence for 50 Dogs

Navajo County, Arizona animal control officers shot and killed more than 50 dogs owned by a man who was jailed for one month when he couldn't make bail.

The head of the shelter where the county usually takes stray dogs said the shelter could have handled the dogs if someone had called.

Animal control said the dogs were aggressive and would have been difficult to round up or would have died on the trip in vans which aren't air-conditioned. The shelter disagreed and said their agency could have dispatched a euthanasia technician, food, water and kennels to the site. They also said the Humane Society has enough vehicles and volunteers with trucks and trailers to transport large amounts of animals safely.

Instead, the dogs were shot by animal control. The director of the county's health department, which oversees animal control, defended the act saying, "We do feel like the decision made in the field was the right one to prevent suffering for the animals."

The owner of the dogs still can't talk about the dogs' deaths without breaking up. "That's more punishment than I deserve," he said. "No one needs to be treated that way, especially animals."

Source: azcentral.com