Animal advocates blame Apache County animal control crisis on sheriff

Note: This article contains graphic content. Discretion is advised.

After a deputy with the Apache County Sheriff's Office He shot seven abandoned dogs last yearThe outcry over the animal control crisis has reached a fever pitch.

Activists say authorities are resorting to inhumane tactics to deal with the problem, but the sheriff's office says it is doing its best.

The cage where 16 dogs were abandoned in Apache County remains empty nearly a year after a sheriff's deputy was ordered to put them down.

“I was out doing some chores, and he was there… I was absolutely sickened,” Joshua Jeffery said. He saw the dogs get shot.

Outcry sparked by body camera video obtained by Molly Ottman of the Mountain Daily Star Animal rights activists say Apache County Sheriff Joseph Dedman is solely responsible.

They say they called him to pursue the people who abandoned the dogs and to help them place the remaining nine dogs in shelters.

But the MPs ignored both requests, resorting to using a handgun to end the dogs' suffering.

“If the sheriff's office had the heart to do the right thing, this could have had a radically different ending,” Jeffery said.

Activists say residents have often reported cases of animal cruelty, a crime that proliferates in Apache County's wide-open spaces.

Cope Reynolds, who is running against Sheriff Dedman In November, he said he saw the horror and abuse himself.

“The crimes are openly ignored. And there are places where there is hoarding, where you would not even believe your eyes,” he said.

This spring, Concho Animal Defenders Manager Heather Hutchinson said she was called to a house full of animals, including 15 dogs.

The owner was dead and the hungry animals had eaten his body. The animals began to turn on the corpses of other animals to stay alive.

Terrified neighbors called the sheriff.

“The officers shot two of the dogs and left them there. They also shot the surviving goat and left it there. They left the property and closed the gate, leaving 13 dogs behind,” Hutchinson said.

FOX 10 reached out to Sheriff Dedman multiple times. His office said he would not appear on camera but would release a statement.

The statement reads in full:

“The Deputy Sheriff involved acted in a professional and humane manner given the circumstances. He exhausted all other avenues available to him at the time and acted with the approval of his immediate superior. The incident was reviewed by ACSO command staff and the Deputy Sheriff was found to have acted in accordance with agency policy.

Apache County is a large county spanning over 11,000 square miles with only a handful of deputies to provide law enforcement and a variety of other services to the citizens of Apache County and the State of Arizona. Deputies are trained to act independently, make split-second life-and-death decisions, and handle any situation they encounter in a professional and lawful manner.

Apache County does not have an Animal Care and Control department. In unincorporated areas, this is left to deputies and the actions taken vary and are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. We do not have the infrastructure or budget to support such a service. Approval for such a service would be given by the Board of Supervisors. Private agencies such as the Arizona Humane Society have offered to assist us in cases in the past, but not consistently, primarily due to remote response and availability of local resources.

The supervisory board did not respond to requests for comment.

With just 28 officers patrolling 11,000 square miles of land littered with animal cruelty cases, Sheriff Dedman says shooting and killing sick and emaciated dogs is the most humane thing they can do.

All activists can do, they say, is vote to impeach Sheriff Dedman.

If elected, Reynolds promises to hire a veterinarian and use the county's small budget to train the few deputies Apache County has to enforce animal cruelty laws before more dogs, cats and livestock suffer and die needlessly.

“It’s all about kindness. Do you really want to do something about it? Make a phone call. Get on Facebook. Spread the word. Don’t sweep it under the rug,” Hutchinson said.

For now, private shelters in and around Apache County are the only option for abandoned and neglected animals.

You can donate/volunteer with these animal services to help: