it is now a class 6 felony to mistreat your pet or other animal and Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas wants to jail lots of people for this crime. dont these government thugs have any real criminals to chase after? Original Article County focuses on animal abuse Task force to aid police, prosecutors Linda Helser The Arizona Republic Jun. 20, 2005 12:00 AM It's a case of simple math. If you bring together more enlightened prosecutors and police through a newly formed animal cruelty task force, then you can put away more abusers of innocent creatures. That's the intent of the new Law Enforcement for Animal Protection task force established last month by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. County Attorney Andrew Thomas sees mistreatment of animals as the first step toward more violent crimes, and he wants to monitor and prosecute such cases to keep abusers off the streets. "When I worked as a prosecutor in our juvenile division, I got to see the pattern of delinquents who commit this crime often go on to commit violent crimes against humans," he said. So when members of the Arizona Humane Society asked him to champion and enhance a task force that the Humane Society had launched a year ago, Thomas agreed. Advocates want improved communications between police departments and prosecutors, and they want to have law enforcement and justice-system personnel trained in how to better handle cruelty cases. Twenty-six people have volunteered to take part, representing police, prosecutors, animal-control and shelter personnel from cities including Phoenix, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, Peoria and Surprise. "Our first meeting is June 27, and one of the first things I want to do is to establish one special hot line number, like a graffiti hot line, for the public to report animal abuse," said Jana Sorensen, 50, task force chairwoman and an 18-year prosecutor in the County Attorney's Office. Second on her agenda will be the creation of a comprehensive Web site, listing animal-abuse cases being handled by the County Attorney's Office, updates of cases and other information the public may find useful. Duane Adams, 42, task force vice chairman and a 23-year employee of the Arizona Humane Society, is hopeful the group will address strengthening, fine tuning, clarifying and unifying abuse laws. Before 1999, animal abuse was a misdemeanor. Since, it may be considered a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to two years in prison and $150,000 in fines. "I'm looking to add some teeth to the laws and thereby help everybody," Adams said. For instance, grounds for seizing a neglected or abused animal from an owner differ among law enforcement municipalities throughout the county. "We need to get organized and set state guidelines for that," he said. But the biggest objectives of the task force will be to make certain law enforcement officers understand the law when it comes to animal abuse. "If we can educate police officers and communicate with them and let them know what investigation we need them to do to help us make our case, then we'll have a better chance of securing a conviction," said Tony Church, 28, a prosecutor with the County Attorney's Office. Examples might include photographs of the abused animal and taped interviews from witnesses and abusers. Church, who will serve as the task force liaison among the County Attorney's Office, law enforcement and private agencies, already has earned a reputation as a passionate prosecutor when it comes to animal-abuse cases. He routinely volunteers to take cases. An admitted animal-lover with two formerly abused dogs of his own and eight cats rescued from the streets, Church has tallied 10 convictions of animal abuse since he prosecuted his first such case in November 2003. Another 19 unresolved cases are on his caseload. "Already I've noticed a significant increase," he said. "I was doing one or two a month before, and now there's at least one a week and some weeks two." Stephanie Nichols-Young, 48, a Phoenix attorney in private practice, bets Church had better brace himself for even more if the task force accomplishes its mission. "I suspect animal abuse has always been going on, but so many cases have just slipped through the cracks," she said. "If people don't know who to call to report it, if police don't investigate it properly, if a prosecutor doesn't get it, if a judge doesn't sentence appropriately, then at any point all the way along the line they can fall through the cracks."