How Changing Phoenix Code Could Reunite Pets With Their Owners Faster
A Phoenix councilwoman wants to change the way the city deals with certain animals.
Stories from police officers and the Arizona Humane Society led Councilwoman Thelda Williams to request a change in city code. Right now, it only addresses cruelty cases. Williams wants it to include animals displaced for other reasons — for example, if their owners are arrested, hospitalized or die.
Current code also requires impounding animals for 10 days to allow owners time to request a court hearing to get them back. During December's public safety subcommittee meeting, City Attorney Cris Meyer suggested Phoenix reduce the time it holds displaced animals from 10 days to three.
“It’s better for the psychological well-being of the animals,” he said. “And the owners are not required to go through the court process.”
Meyer said the ordinance requires peace officers who remove animals to notify the owners and provide contact information about where the animals are staying. The Arizona Humane Society says changing the code will help them reunite pets with owners and move other animals out of shelters and into new homes faster.
Phoenix contracts with the Arizona Humane Society to shelter animals that have been taken from owners. Tracey Miller, field operations manager with the Humane Society, said reducing the time from 10 to three days doesn’t mean the animals will up for adoption on the third day. At the end of the third day, she said they would begin the adoption process which could take another seven to 10 days to medically and behaviorally evaluate an animal.
Miller said they often work with people who need extra time to retrieve their animals and can help arrange foster care. She shared a story about an owner who was hospitalized on three occasions and each time her animals were seized because no one else was available to care for them.
“Her third hospital stay she stayed in there for a little over a month, she was able to reach out to us and ask us if we could hang on to the animals during the time frame she was in the hospital and we did and when she came out of the hospital we were able to return the animals to her,” she said.
The public safety subcommittee approved the change and the full council must still vote. Meyer listed these benefits to the city:
- Eliminates unnecessary court procedures.
- Decrease in officer overtime pay to attend unnecessary court appearances.
- Decreased use of Municipal Court services.
- Increased capacity to care for additional animals.
- Moves animals through the system quicker.
