Pets Set Spirits Free

A jail in North Platte, Neb. recently became the home of two new inmates.

A couple of cats named Nemo and Sarge.

An Associated Press story said the two cats, adopted from the local animal shelter, have been given the mission of making hard-as-nails inmates a little softer with their purring and cuddliness.

Nemo went to work in the jail’s work release cell block, while Sarge was sent to the minimum security area. Sheriff Jerome Kramer said he decided to bring the cats in after some inmates began volunteering at the shelter.

Kramer said studies have shown pets in prisons can relieve stress and reduce inmate violence. The sheriff said the cats, brought in mid-August, have been an immediate success story.

He said the inmates eagerly await their turn to take care of Sarge and Nemo. “They bring out the soft part in you, just like your kids do,” one inmate was quoted in the story.

The idea of bringing cats and dogs into prisons is not a new one, but it appears to be getting more popular.

A program in Oklahoma is exceptional in that it enlists prison inmates to help spring dogs from the local Humane Society. Called Parole-A-Pet, the program provides training to inmates, who then train the dogs to be obedient and increase their chances of being adopted.

“Dogs bring a calmness,´ said Diana Wesson, case manager at Cimarron Correctional Facility, in a story in the Tulsa World. “It gives the guys a reason why they don’t want to fight. They don’t want to lose their dog.”

Marge Satterfield, a dog trainer who trains prisoners to train their dogs over an eight-week stay, said the results for the inmates are amazing.

“All animals are very centering for people,” she said in the story. “If every prison in the country would have some kind of pet program, there would be less stabbing. I think they’d come out of prison a little more balanced.”

Indiana State Prison started its cat therapy program after some pregnant cats found their way onto prison grounds and began having kittens, according to blogger Diana Korten.

The prison is a maximum security facility with many offenders serving time for murder. But the presence of the cats has had a profound impact, Korten said. The inmates are fiercely protective of their cats and make elaborate cat furniture and toys for their pets.

One inmate told Korten: “During my first 15 years here I was trouble. But Jinx (the cat) changed all that. I’m a different person now.”

On first blush, you might think giving a prison inmate a dog or cat would be wrong. They might hurt or kill the animal. Or you might be the kind of person who doesn’t think someone in prison should have a pet.

But think about it: What better way to get back in touch with your lost inner child than to love and take care of a dog or cat?

And get back in touch with life.

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