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Mutual rehabilitation: inmates and shelter dogs socializing each other | Jen Deane | TEDxFSCJ


dogs save lives now you may be sitting

here thinking dogs don’t save lives but

they do tales program is proof that dogs

save lives and that human lives are

saved every single day tails is an

acronym it stands for teaching animals

and inmates life skills picture in your

mind and animal shelter an animal

shelter filled with cages there’s a dog

in every single cage some dogs are nice

some dogs are not so nice some bite some

bark some have no idea how to interact

in society now let’s look at people

people who’ve lost their way people that

metaphorically bite bark people that

have been written off by the outside

world and are in a prison the people

that don’t know how to interact in

society tails brings the inmates and the

dogs together in this program everybody

deserves a second chance

and tails provides that second chance

now in the fall of 2015

tails was in trouble it was broken

dogs needed to eat there was no food

dogs needed medical care there was no

money for medical care we knew the

potential that the tails program had so

we agreed to take over the program now

as much as we do how much potential the

program had we also knew we had to be

realistic so we chose partners we chose

partners carefully we looked for

partners that had similar ideas and

beliefs as we did partners that had

resources that we didn’t have

fortunately two animal welfare

organizations stepped up and agreed to

support tails financially the inmates

and the dogs had their short-term

solution for the tails program again we

chose partners extremely carefully we

were picky dogs and the tails program go

through a very

specialized assessment process the

assessment was written by a canine

expert we do this to ensure that the

dogs are a good match for the people

once the dogs passed the assessment they

go to prison this is where their journey

begins every day 9,000 animals are

killed in shelters across the United

States the three main reasons that they

end up in shelters are training and

behavior related those three issues are

resolved through the tails program

sometimes all dogs need are a second

chance just like sometimes all people

need are a second chance once the dogs

pass their assessment and go into the

program then we look at our inmates the

inmates go through a very exhaustive

process they have to apply to be apart

and there’s a waiting list at every

single institution that we have tails

through they apply to be apart there are

certain things that will disqualify them

from participation violent crimes

domestic violence are an automatic DQ DQ

not Dairy Queen

but disqualification right also any

behavior issues or certain behavior

issues while they’re in the prison would

disqualify them from the program as well

the inmates receive training prior to

them receiving their dogs they go into a

classroom they learn what to expect for

their dog and they learn what we expect

from them once they receive that

training they meet their dog there are

two and a half million people in a

650,000 ex-offenders are released every

single day why wouldn’t we teach them

the skills that they need to be

successful in society skills like

empathy responsibility teamwork

resolving issues without violence these

are all issues that tails resolves for

the inmates we teach them how to be

better members of society

dogs and shelters are like kids and

nature sometimes they run amok right so

sometimes they need they lack proper

supervision they don’t know how to

interact it might be something as simple

as learning how not to jump on a table

or jump on people tales teaches these

dogs those skills and the inmates are an

integral part of teaching the dogs the

skills that they need to survive

the dogs are immersed into a into an

area where they receive love they

receive care they’re in the prison to

learn how to survive these are dogs that

are at risk of euthanasia we don’t take

dogs that are that are safe we take dogs

that need our help the most so these are

dogs on death’s door literally that we

take these this program saves Souls I’ve

seen dogs so scared that they won’t move

I’ve taken them out of their kennels and

move them out because they couldn’t get

out they were so paralyzed with fear

these same dogs once they go through the

program

are confident they’re happy their tails

are up their heads are up same thing

with the eating with the inmates we’ve

seen inmates go from having a chip on

their shoulders to being loving happy

people one such inmate whose name will

call John wrote a letter recently and

stated that he hated the world when he

first got into the prison system and

I’ll quote unbeknownst to me a dog would

change my life he taught me how to be a

loving happy person it is because of

this dog that my transformation began

and I’m the man I am today he’s out of

prison and he’s doing really well

and he credits that to one dog pretty

good pretty good

so so a a story that I want to bring up

is is a particular dog it is

heartbreaking to know of a dog that’s

been abused sugar mama

there she is she was rescued from a

dogfighting ring and she needed

extensive spinal surgery she had two

herniated discs in her spine and had to

be it operated on by a neurologist it

was a very expensive and extensive

surgery but she needed it to physically

survive she needed her trainer to

emotionally survive after sugar mama had

her surgery and her recovery we chose to

put her in the tails program it was the

right decision it was the only decision

sugar mama

met her trainer Joe in the prison now

Joe was a hardened criminal he’d been in

the prison system for 15 years 15 years

and this is Joe by the way 15 years in

the system and Joe had never known love

until he met his dog Joe decided that

this if this dog could forgive

everything that happened to her and be

happy and trusting then so could Joe in

December

Joe will leave the prison he’s taking my

I’ll never forget when he when he asked

me about adopting her he said with tears

in his eyes miss Jen sugar mama changed

my life she’s the first time I felt

loved please let me take her with me I

will love her forever of course I said

and by the way sugar mama is the most

loyal dog on the face of the earth I

promise you I have to tell him not to

carry her everywhere yeah but he again

he gets out in December and his dog will

be going with him after 15 years Joe

became the person that his dog thought

he was and that’s the chance that we

give to inmates they get to be the

person that their dog thinks they are

you know for a lot of these guys they’ve

never known love before they’ve never

known how to care for another individual

they’ve never learned responsibility

teamwork when a dog goes in details

they’re assigned to inmates to take care

of the dog this builds teamwork amongst

the inmates the two inmates are

responsible for bathing feeding caring

and training for their dog so they are

everything from A to Z the dogs live in

the prisons it’s 24/7

this is cohabitation this is marriage

this is whatever you want to call it

when you’re with someone 24 hours a day

seven days a week and it’s taught the

inmates and the dogs the skills they

need to have that second chance in the

prison’s one of the things that we’ve

seen is an increase in teamwork a

decrease in violence so in in dorms and

wings and wards that house the tales

program the incidence of violence in

those particular areas are much lower

than in other areas of the prison that’s

how effective tails is once the dogs go

through the program it’s an eight week

program at the end the dogs have to pass

the prac

chuckle exam so we hold the dogs

accountable we also hold the inmates

accountable they have to pass a written

exam after that’s done we have

graduation ceremonies at the prisons and

there are shelter directors that come in

from the animal shelters and then they

speak there are lots of guests that come

in in some prisons they allow friends

and families of the inmates to come in

and attend the graduation the inmates

receive a certificate of completion for

the training and the dogs receive either

a bachelor’s a masters or a PhD and

training I kid you not and it’s a very

competitive training everybody wants

their dog to be the best right so at the

graduations there are lots of guests

everybody smiles everybody cheers

because everybody knows lives are being

saved it’s my favorite picture so once

the dogs get out of the program they’re

adopted into homes and the inmates if

they’re still in the prison system they

can have another dog so the process

continues we’ve seen or I’ve seen

hardened criminals actually cry when

their dog leaves the building even

though it’s for a good reason right to

go into a home they’re still very upset

so we don’t waste any time bringing dogs

in for the next round so that they can

help even more dogs so if you remember

one thing from the talk today from my

talk today please remember this you know

we took on a program we took a leap of

faith with a program that we didn’t know

whether we could find the funding or

find the support that we needed to do it

but we did it because we had passion

anybody can accomplish anything if

you’ve got the passion to do it but you

also need realism right you can have all

the passion in the world you have to

know who to align yourself with in order

to achieve that goal everybody needs

money right but we don’t need a lot we

need enough to get by but we don’t need

a lot what we need more of in the world

is passion

passion is key but also to be realistic

with what your what you’re trying to do

but you can accomplish anything you want

if you’ve got the passion to do it

look we worry every single day about our

tails program we worry about where we’re

going to get the money to fund it we

worry about the inmates we worry about

the dogs but we continue to do it

because we see the difference that it

makes and we have the passion to do it

you can do the same thing anybody can

write a check it takes a lot more to

care and to be passionate and to walk

the walk

I encourage you to take that chance to

follow your passion and to be realistic

about it

as well today over 200 dogs are close to

200 dogs have graduated from the tales

program this year alone we’ve impacted

over 200 inmates with no dog left behind

we have plans to continue to expand the

program our passion is what drives us

every single day our missions are

accomplished and they’re accomplished

one inmate and one dog at a time thank you

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