Our Animal Control Officers would like to inform the community of the dangers of heat-related animal cruelty. Over the last two weeks, multiple calls for animal welfare checks have been received, involving animals left outside with no shelter and/or water. The majority of these calls have come from the Arizona Strip area of Mohave County, with 5 citations being issued for Animal Cruelty, one of which was a felony. All of these calls involved dogs being left outside in 90+ degree temperatures without water or shelter. Our Animal Control Officers take situations like this very seriously and anyone in violation of County Ordinances or Arizona Revised Statutes regarding animal cruelty will be cited appropriately.
During our summer months, prolonged exposure to outside temperatures is dangerous for dogs. According to the American Kennel Club (www.akc.org) “Heatstroke in dogs is life threatening and can also result in very serious complications. The most common cause of heatstroke in dogs is confinement in a closed automobile. Other causes of heatstroke can include being confined in a pen without fresh water in direct sunlight and dogs left in cages for an extended period of time with restricted access to or not enough water.”
Mohave County Ordinance: 070682E ARTICLE NO. IV, Section 1- CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: No person shall deprive an animal of necessary sustenance, drink or shelter, or subject an animal to needless suffering, or inflict unnecessary cruelty upon the animal.
ARS 13-2910- Cruelty to Animals- A person commits cruelty to animals if the person does any of the following: 1.Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly subjects any animal under the person's custody or control to cruel neglect or abandonment. "Cruel neglect" is defined as failure to provide an animal with necessary food, water or shelter.
Original source can be found here.
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