In Wittmann, Arizona, a concerned citizen's call to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) exposed a home where dogs had gone without water for days. Deputies arrived to find several dogs severely dehydrated and one dog already dead. The dogs' owner, 39-year-old Rafael Flores, was taken into custody after reportedly admitting he hadn't given the animals water since the previous Sunday.

MCSO's Animal Crimes Unit stepped in to investigate further, and Flores now faces charges spanning both felony and misdemeanor animal neglect counts. Four surviving dogs were removed from the property, along with the remains of the dog that didn't survive.

Animals depend entirely on the people responsible for their care. When that care is withheld to the point that one dog dies of dehydration and four others are left fighting for their lives, the law needs to treat it as the serious crime it is — not a charge that quietly gets reduced along the way.

We're calling on the Maricopa County Attorney's Office to pursue the felony charges against Rafael Flores to the fullest extent the law allows, and to make sure this case sets a real deterrent against animal neglect countywide.

Sign this petition to demand full prosecution in the Wittmann dog neglect case — so the surviving dogs, and the one that didn't make it, get the justice they deserve.