The Helen Woodward Animal Center said Tuesday it has invited controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio to speak at a three-day animal welfare conference in San Diego in February.
Arapaio, the long-serving sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ, has stirred controversy because of his get-tough policies with undocumented immigrants and his investigation into President Obama’s birth certificate.
The Rancho Santa Fe-based animal shelter said it is inviting Arpaio “for instigating one of the most impressive and controversial programs in the world of animal welfare today.”
Arpaio will speak at the center’s third Business of Saving Lives conference Feb. 5-7 at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside Hotel.
His topic will be his new program of housing abused animals within his Arizona jail and teaching inmates awaiting trial how to care for and groom dogs and cats. The program was created to provide the inmates skills and life lessons.
Jessica Gerke, public relations manager for the center, said Arpaio was invited not for his controversial political views, but for his innovative ideas about animal welfare. She noted that his department is “taking a very unique approach to how we can take care of animals.”
She said the three-day conference is intended to encourage new thinking about animal welfare and includes speakers from many perspectives.
