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Davis handles her responsibilities with quiet authority and, unfortunately, has many stories to tell of man's cruelty to animals, including illegal cattle killing, which she investigates like a homicide. “We handle the evidence the same way they would in a burglary, murder or theft,” she said.

Because of the huge influx of new residents in Arizona, a big part of the job of the livestock officer involves public education. “A lady in northeastern Arizona called in seriously concerned about some animals being neglected. A livestock officer responded he had to drive 80 miles to get there drove up to the lady's house and asked her what the problem was.

“She said, 'Well, those horses. Nobody has been near the horses in days.' And he said, 'What horses?' And she said, 'You had to drive right by them when you came in.' The livestock officer said, 'You mean those fat horses standing out there in the pasture?' The lady, honestly, sincerely, did not realize that horses ate grass, did not realize that hay came from grass so that's 160 miles of wasted resources. But she was sincere.” On her time off, Davis and her husband, Gene, a retired cowboy, enjoy their horses together, but her solo passion is music. “I have been a professional church organist since I was 15,” she reported. She also plays the piano, flute, saxophone and oboe, and can be found every Sunday morning at the organ at Willcox United Methodist Church.

Then it's back to business: Like other law officers on the road, Davis sometimes writes tickets. One week, she handed out four citations to motorists who failed to stop at an inspection station on Interstate 10 near the New Mexico border.

During the morning-long drive I took with Davis far off the interstate, we saw few cars but spied cattle roaming the open range and grazing alongside the road. The scene prompted a precautionary tip from Davis: Open range livestock have the right-of-way, and she's required to ticket you for $1,000 if you hit and kill a horse and for a cow, it's upward of $1,500. Expensive roadkill. And a long way from coaching volleyball.