It's a cracking idea. Having a bit of company would keep you sane if you are gonna be in there for years. I can definitely see how this would reduce violence and help rehabilitate folk.
There was a documentary I watched a while ago - It might've been one of those prison reality shows maybe - where this guy was in an isolated large cell and on death row, but he adopted a cat while awaiting his execution. He had done some wild-ass shit to get that sentance if I recall, like he murdered multiple people in cold-blood. But the affection he showed his cat was like he was a different person entirely. He said something along the lines of how she (the cat) was the equivalent to his child and his god, and the only thing he's worried about is her being taken care of after he's put to death. His cat was going to be taken care of regardless, but still. He knew he was going to miss her so much.
Honestly, I don't know how to feel about this. It's still a guy who murdered multiple people. It's nice that he loves his cat, but the people he killed maybe also loved their cats or dogs or other pets. Maybe they loved their kids, their parents... On one hand, it's kind of a nice story but on the other hand, I just feel a bit icky about a guy like that getting any sort of praise or attention because he loves his cat.
He's still locked up and in line to be literally killed for his crimes. I'd say he's still suffering the correct amount of punishment despite being given cat privileges.
I don't see why it'd be better for someone to not change till their last breath versus make an attempt to do a bit of good for something before they are gone.
It doesn't erase what they did, but that's why they're on death row? And someone who still decides to do a bit of good, even though it won't change their fate, that action is praise worthy. It doesn't absolve them of what they did or make them a good person, but it's a bit black and white to say acknowledging a good event amongst the bad completely erases the victims.
I can understand that perspective quite a bit.
I look at it like this, there’s a significant amount of mental illness involved to see murdering someone as an okay thing to do outside of severe circumstances like self defense.
These inmates aren’t in any capacity less human for doing something terrible. Reform is always the best route when it’s an option from my perspective. But for someone like a death row inmate, reform isn’t an option because he’s already been sentenced to death instead. (And indeed some of those inmates genuinely cannot be reformed in a way that would keep them from being likely to kill again upon release.)
That is inherently sad.
Not because his crime didn’t warrant being on death row, mind you, but because when a criminal cannot be reformed it makes sense that a compassionate individual on the outside would find it to be upsetting.
But it hinges on compassion to recognize that even though he’s done terrible things, he’s still human.
Allowing him the opportunity to care for someone else, and to have the company in his final days is allowing him to have a shred of his humanity reinstated.
It’s not about rewarding or justifying the disturbing and grotesque actions he performed.
It’s about recognizing the humanity in other people, and using good judgement to determine who will be able to care for another creature, and in some way regaining their own humanity.
At the end of that sentence, he will still die. But he’ll die and we’ll know that while we were unable to reform him, he didn’t die after months of being in fully isolated solitary confinement, multiplying the mental illness he already had.
Our compassion dictates that we do things humanely, and our compassion is the reason why we give opportunities for people who have done terrible things to still have some shred of humanity to cling to.
It’s okay to feel a mixture of sorrow, disgust, and compassion when viewing a situation where something terrible happened due to the actions of an individual who did horrific things, but still at the end of the day is a human being.
It doesn’t mean we let him get away with it, it doesn’t mean we disrespect the victims, it simply means we don’t sacrifice our own humanity by removing all compassion from the situation.
I like what you said about a mix of sorrow, disgust, and compassion regarding such things. Sometimes we (I) need to be reminded that it is entirely okay and valid to feel more than one way about something complicated, and that black and white thinking is cold in almost any context.
It seems like in today's thought spheres it isn't acceptable to have mixed emotions, and to feel pressured to feel just one way about an issue.
I feel warmth that he connected with something as innocent as a cat, sadness that it will end in his death, anger that he killed people, and sorrow for everyone involved. In the end, his love for that cat is not going to fix anything, its just a little decent thing in a mess of indecency.
It's the duality of man. Sometimes you gotta give the devil his dues, doesn't change what he did but credit where it's due. There's some good in him somewhere, just not towards his fellow man.
The US really needs this widespread our prison system is more of a exile zone than anything. People deserve to be helped and not just thrown away and forgotten.
We had stray cats roaming our yard. I was always jelly of the inmates on the first floor because they could feed the kitties.
There once was a hole in one of the grate covering the window that an inmate had slowly peeled back. Long story short, smithville ended up with a cat in his cell and we had a pet cat for about a week or two. He’d go out at night and come back in the morning haha.
Guards found out and shut it down. Prison sucks.
On a positive note I had a window on the second row facing the horses across the road. Not only could I pull in npr and better radio stations, I got to see some horses 🐎 running around occasionally .
Last time this was posted, someone mentioned that they come from high kill shelters. So if you mess up, your baby gets sent back and killed. You also have to pay for their food yourself from the pennies you make every day. Better than being alone (probably) but highly exploitative.
It *is* good but also still bad.
Edit: I bet the comment that I saw originally was talking about a *specific* prison. Lots of replies have added other, differing experiences. Sounds like some programs are better than others. 🙂
I mean it’s not the best system, but it’s honestly one of the better anyone could probably think of. Like it gives them a really good incentive not to be an asshole. Granted the outcome of them misbehaving might be harsh, but we don’t know what would actually happen, maybe the cat gets sent to a waiting area and waits for a few days in a common area in case they go back to good behavior, or just get assigned to another person.
I was in one of these programs. They're very hard to get into. Out of 3000 inmates only 8 could be selected. You had to get approval from existing members and an officer to endorse you.
Once you get in the rules are very strict. Even minor disciplinary infractions that would normally get ignored will get you kicked out.
I don't have a full list. I just know the one I was in had one.
It was possible to adopt the dog. But you'd had to have someone outside willing to adopt the dog and keep them for you until you got out. Also it cost several hundred dollars. I didn't attempt to take my dog because I knew I was moving out of state soon as I got out.
Rocky did get adopted by another inmates family though. His story had a happy ending.
There was one story about an inmate who fell in love with a cat he was fostering and managed to have it adopted by some family members until he could get out.
My understanding (and this is not an expert opinion) is that the jail keeps the cat for a certain number of years till it's rehabilitates then it given up to an adoption program to be given to the public.the inmate would then a new cat to rehabilitate. This is probably program by program though
I believe some might also get pretty violent if their best friend was taken from them for an unjust reason.
Like if your cat got into a fight with another inmates cat and yours get injured, and then you and that inmate start fighting over whose cat started the fight. Both might lose their cat now
But overall, this sounds like there are more benefits than not, especially if conflict management is taught to the inmates.
And cats are like, the perfect animal for this. Cats don't just automatically love people, you have to earn their trust and how to read their comfort levels with different types of affection. But when you earn that affection, it's the most wonderful thing. I routinely have 3 cats who don't really like each other very much trying to sit on me at once, and I feel so loved. Also they are goofy silly little goblins.
Absolutely! I honestly tear up every time I see a post about one of these prison programs because it’s something that actually HELPS criminals on the road to reform instead of making it impossible to learn and grow
The guy that implemented this program have a YouTube channel, he have a lot of info about cats and how to give them a good home
https://youtube.com/@jacksongalaxy
Jackson Galaxy is so very awesome. I love his shows that used to be on Animal Planet. He’d help reform naughty cats on his show My Cat From Hell. He’s a really good guy. I didn’t know he did prison programs too, now I love him even more.
A big thing missing in the lives of a good majority of the people who end up in prison is kindness. I would say even prisoners who will never get out should have the opportunity to have a pet, if they are good prisoners.
Too true. Often the people prone to violence against others have been subjected to it themselves. Misanthropy is taught and engendered. Those same people, even those outside the carceral system, will show a remarkable capacity for concern for animals and their welfare.
kindness and money, never forget that poverty is the number one cause of violence. maybe they can be well behaved inside the prison and cats might teach them about being loved and stuff.
but when (if) they get out, money and not being able to get a job will weigh a lot heavier than the cat they loved.
Purpose and responsibility, but more importantly, a small but powerful taste of being a regular human, instead of animal in a cage with no semblance of normal life. The life they want to get back to.
This is why I like either the Swedish or Switzerland prisons because they teach the prisoners a trade for when they will be released and treat them like humans who will return to society and it works 95% of the time
It's not 95%. Recidivism rates vary widely by length of time following release as well as the offense--not to mention the fact that recidivism is defined differently on a place-by-place basis.
Here's one website with an incomplete list of recidivism rates: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country
By that data, in Sweden it works ~60% of the time over 2 years after release. But still...
Regardless, Scandinavian countries are known for having far better recidivism rates than European or North American countries.
Additional, newer data courtesy of u/WitOfTheIrish: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235223000867
I think it’s partly because in somewhere like America we have this perception that majority of prisoners are full blown psychopaths, while in reality most of them are regular people that made some bad decisions. Which is also why it’s surprising to people that the inmates are so kind to the cats. There’s very few people that are Ted Bundy level of sick.
This, people don’t realize just how much of who they are depends on how their parents raised them and what happened to be normal in the environment they grew up in. Every time I try to have a conversation with someone about it they always reply with something like “just don’t commit crimes” and that’s really easy to say as an adult who had people who cared when they were children. The first time I broke into a house I was only 11, it felt like a normal thing to do at the time because that’s what everyone else in my immediate environment was doing so it was normalized at a very young age. I didn’t even consider there might be people who don’t do that. I can’t even remember my first fight, because it was literally a daily thing in my neighborhood as a kid. But it’s hard to explain that to people who think they made it past all these pitfalls because they’re just good people, when they would be the criminal instead of me if they were in my shoes and I were in theirs.
It's also sometimes completely out of the individuals hands. Story time. When I was young my mither worked as a crossing guard, she was over paid, alerted her work, her payroll told her in writing thank you for letting us know you can keep the mistake. Several years pass management and payroll change they comb through the books find her overpayment charge her with theft. She goes to court is found guilty despite having it in writing, she is now a felon.
Yikes that's unbelievable. Do you remember how much she was overpaid? It's wild that they would elect to put someone through that stress and a permanent mark on the record for something she was honest about to begin with. At worst you'd think they'd just have her pay it back and call it good.
Empathy too. They don't want to hurt their cats or have the cats taken away due to their own actions so they don't react to things by only thinking about themselves, they are empathetic to the cats and know if they act how they want to it will have a negative impact on the cat, so they put the cat first and act things out in a healthier way so they can keep their cat with them and happy.
There's also a bit of a mob mentality thing going on here. In no way would a prisoner who owns a pet be willing to hurt it due to the fact that A they would lose the cat and B most other inmates would likely find out. I would assume abusing an animal is about on par with being a pedo in prison, so they won't exactly be in a safe environment if they choose to be sadistic. Hence the mob mentality thing, there's a veil of fear regarding what others will think of them if they hurt their pet.
I’ve volunteered with a rescue that places dogs not ready for adoption in inmate dog training/rehab programs. The program is entirely volunteer-based and mostly inmate led, the experienced volunteers teach the new ones. A lot of the guys who join are older, have been in and out a few times, gang drop-outs, and men tired of the cycle who’ve chosen to change. There’s also a lot of experienced cons who try and get first timers to change before they’re on their 2nd trip and not going to get out until their 40s.
It’s still prison and still a high stress living environment but there hasn’t been a fight or a drug/contraband bust on the dog unit in over five years. There’s a pro-social, respectful relationship between staff and residents. Many guys have also taken up educational opportunities. Recidivism among parolees is low and statistically involves relapse or parole rule violations instead of new charges. I know sex offenders are a unpopular subject but the reality is most people with sex crimes will eventually be released back into society, so using incarceration as a time to teach skills, self-awareness, and accountability so that they don’t reoffend and create more victims is and should be of the utmost importance.
And our dogs thrive!! These guys put a lot of love and time into their fosters. They train them to pass the Canine Good Citizen Test, teach basic manners and boundaries, and do it all through positive reinforcement- no physical corrections, no scaring the dogs. We send some of the most difficult dogs with unknown or tragic backstories and they come out happy and trusting humans once more. These kinds of programs, whether it’s dogs, cats, or even horses are a win-win-win for the animals, the prisoners, and the communities they will eventually return to.
And I’ll tell you what, there’s a lot of giant, tattoo-covered, rock-solid men that cry when they have to send their friends off to their forever homes- and nobody shames them for it.
Ours got put on hold during Covid unfortunately, the prisons pretty much went into lockdown and stopped all “non-essential” programs. We’ve been trying to get it going again but unfortunately there’s a lot of back and forth in our state about why prisons exist- to give people a time-out from society and offer them a chance to reform, or to simply lock them away and punish them. The current admin is on a “prison is a punishment” kick. It’s disappointing because that idea has never worked. But it’s cheaper, it’s easier, and it increases the likelihood of reoffending, which keeps prisons full and fed dollars coming in. I knew our justice system was flawed and broken but had no idea how bad it was until I had this level of exposure to it.
Rehabilitation should be the goal. Very few people are evil. Most just took a few wrong turns or were failed by society in some manner. Getting these people on the right track should be the goal of any prison system.
Prisons should work to help those that can be helped and the few that are truly evil can be kept away from victims. Rapists and and murderers are obviously different from thieves and so on. Give thieves cats! Meowr.
I'm a mental health practitioner who works with chronically suicidal youth, and a lot of them have some of the worst parents I've ever heard of. A couple of them even have parents in prison for what they did to my clients. All of those parents abused their kids because they couldn't cope with capitalism & couldn't, or wouldn't, access resources to help themselves. Every. Single. One.
Our economic system deliberately creates the single largest driver of all crime & drug addiction: poverty. It's a deliberate byproduct that exists to threaten people into exploitative work contracts, and it's an inherent part of capitalism. You can't take it out or capitalism dies.
So we live in a society that knowingly puts people into the economic conditions that force them to become "criminals" to survive and then abandons them once they actually begin to break laws. Then it further abandons their children, which perpetuates the cycle. All to keep a constant supply of labor, both wage & slave (our prison laborers are legally slaves as per the 13th amendment).
I know of no truer expression of evil than this. My whole job is trying to help those kids pick of the shattered pieces of their lives, so they don't end up right where their parents are. It's heartbreaking, and it'd be so easy to prevent this shit. Nothing has made me hate capitalism more than working with dozens of kids that could have done amazing things if they & their ancestors hadn't been beaten down for generations
That's awful. Do you think the program could work if they didn't enforce removal on those folks just not willing to become informers? It would be great to make something like this viable.
Honestly I think very few criminals are gonna be the type to hurt an animal for no reason. Even the violent ones or the ones with murder charges. You have to be a very specific type of criminal to hurt a cat.
The ones that hurt animals get an extra incentive not to FAFO. Dawg, you’re gonna hurt my only friend and the primary reason I’m well-behaved…. It.Is.On.
Yeah exactly, you'd have literally every inmate kicking your ass over this. I'm sure there are inmates who don't really like cats but I guess they'd probably just opt out
Some prisoners I've spoken to have secretly befriended and taken care of birds, lizards, and even mice. Seriously any companionship is better than solitude.
Yeah, people get killed over being known as the "pedo" in prison, while maybe not on the same level I still can't imagine being known as the "guy who hurt/killed the community cat" lasting long
I took a criminal justice class in college in 1991. We had a guest speaker who had done several stints in federal penitentiaries in Illinois and Indiana. He said they had a mouse problem that was kept in check by the cats allowed to be in the prison. One day an inmate was in a bad mood so he kicked a cat and injured it. The inmate was stabbed to death out in the yard a couple of days later for that kick.
I'm a firm believer that people who don't like cats are people who have had no experience with cats or limited negative experiences.
My husband "wasn't a cat person" when we met. They'd had barn cats growing up but that was his only experience. He was a "dog guy" and firm about it.
Well, it's been 8 years and he and our cat are truly a bonded pair at this point. More importantly, his attitude about cats completely 180d. He's known at work as the cat guy. He will pet any and all cats. He loves cats. It took living with our really great cat for his attitude about an entire species to change.
Yeah that part of the video took me a back a little bit. Like damn, are we supposed to be conditioned into believing because someone broke the law, that also means they are animal abusers?
People are conditioned to think so much worse about criminals. For one, most people seem fine with enslaving them. And there is often an attitude that the pervasive abuse, rape, neglect, and murder that happens in prison is somehow deserved by the people affected.
One of the primary punishments of people in prison, solitary confinement, is considered illegal torture by the rules of war.
Another thing, and not to excuse their prior behavior, but we hold these preconceived notions about convicted criminals so close to our hearts we forget that, at several intervals, under the right circumstances, we could have been in their shoes. How many people are in prison on extended sentences because they made one bad decision at one particular moment that any of us would have been capable of as well? Not forgiving them, but just saying no one is immune from the plight of poor decision making at a moments notice.
Yes, I went to jail this year, and I am not the "type" people would expect to go to jail. And frankly, it was just a bunch of normal people in there. And lots of people, including me plead to things they didn't do to avoid a much worse sentence. It's insane how bad our justice system is.
No it’s just more likely you’d find an animal abuser in prison than the general population. Honestly I bet if someone hurt one of the cats the other inmates would kick the shit of him. Maybe not tho if they’d lose their cats
> I bet if someone hurt one of the cats the other inmates would kick the shit of him.
It is true for a lot of cat owners outside prison, if I have to guess it becomes almost sure inside.
Unless they’re in there for some kind of animal cruelty charge… I’d only be concerned about them but even that’s not a universal statement.
Otherwise I don’t see any issue with this. Helps reduce the monotony of prison life and gives the inmates a very strong incentive to work and contribute to not lose their cat.
It’s restorative to care about something that’s living and can give more meaning to their own lives.
I used to work as a counselor in a jail and you are absolutely correct. It rubbed me the wrong way when they said that. I wish they had this cat program everywhere, lots of incarcerated people are trying to do the best they can and will eventually be released so we owe it to society in general to help them come out better than they came in.
This is likely a minimum security/non violent classification unit. I’ve worked in county lockup and a min sec prison, and the housing units are separated by classification level based on type of crime. I think this idea would be amazing for the low sec / non violent offenders, but I would certainly urge caution once you climb the crime chain. It’s not as common as one would think, but I deff interacted with guys that were violent sociopaths, that I wouldn’t want anywhere near a pet. These guys see violence as nothing more than “something you do”, without any concern as to who it affects.
Yeah, criminals who are pure evil like Dahmer, Gacy or Bundy are a tiny minority.
Most people in this world want to be good and do good, but everyone has different struggles and environments that poison us in various ways.
Animal hurters will weed themselves out of the program and demonstrate they aren't worth the efforts to rehabilitate. That will be considered in whether they get out early, reduced sentences etc. ones who can look after the kitty kitties and do the things expected of them demonstrate they can rejoin society with the right support. They deserve that extra effort. It really is a wonderful idea.
because "fuck criminals, they are no longer human beings" is a common mindset in many countries and its always about punishment and not rehabilitation.
you'd be surprised how many folk just want to see criminals suffer.
now add that some Prisons actually profit of the work the Prisoners do and thus are trying to keep them in as long as possible ...
I had these discussions with a couple coworkers a while back when they showed pictures of a Prisons whose focus was on rehabilitation and I gotta say their takes were absolutely disgusting. barely any compassion and I distanced myself from them afterwards
You're totally wrong!
That was Obi-Wan, not Yoda
I agree to the rest - mostly. Everyone deserves a chance to be evaluated regarding their rehabilitability (is that a word?) and, If possible, deserves a chance at rehabilitation.
Hell, this mindset is super common here on Reddit itself.
Many if not most of the Redditors commenting here will go on to demand life imprisonment or death for a criminal in another post and not see or experience any cognitive dissonance.
I love this. It’s totally a good thing to give them away to get out of the mindset of thinking only for themselves. To take care of another living being helps retain their thinking. I would imagine that this helps reduce the recidivism rate.
I wonder what the stats are on that?
All around the world the one factor which differentiates criminals, from the rest of the population; is that on average criminals have a far lower standard of educational achievement, than the general members of society. So by politicians providing more funding and targeted funding for education they can reduce crime and criminal reoffending, boost the economy and make people safer. https://youtu.be/5IzcdWEnMRE
Yeah the vid says people are suprised they don’t hurt the cats. That’s the problem. Politicians have given us a wrong idea of who criminals typically are. They are traumatized people with mental health issues and sometimes mental handicaps. Yeah that’s a lot and yes they did bad things, the vast majority are human beings who made a set of bad/harmful choices in bad situations.
[https://gladdogsnation.com/blogs/blog/healing-behind-bars-how-cats-are-transforming-inmates-lives](https://gladdogsnation.com/blogs/blog/healing-behind-bars-how-cats-are-transforming-inmates-lives)
Not from the same situation, but it can give you the gist on how cats or pets can help an inmate.
There’s some research that indicates that having pets teaches kids empathy. I concur, I’m 54 and still regard growing up with animals as one of the best things my parents did. I can totally see how it would help inmates.
Yes the video footage is from his show. Don’t know why they put some horrible audio over it instead of the [actual video.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xUb1I571BXo)
Yeah, this post is some AI generated garbage. I don't know why people upvote stuff like this. You could have made the same story using the real clips.
There's several different mini-documentaries on YouTube about prison cats.
Those cats will be some of the most cared for animals I suspect. They have an enormous amount of time to care for their animals and will do so to keep the companionship
I saw a story about a program like this. One of the inmates in the prison was very dangerous and a constant problem. He was serving a life sentence and did not care about being punished.
He really wanted to take part in the cat program. They told him if he altered his behavior (I think he had to go a few months without breaking a rule), they would try it
He stopped doing bad things and he got his cat. He was so happy and totally coddled the little cat. It was both touching and funny to see this terrifying, violent man snuggling a cat and talking baby talk to it. The guards said it completely changed his behavior and he became a model prisoner
I a lot of those people have no love in their life so they don’t care about their life, they don’t care about others life. Give them a reason to be good.
I think it's not a bad idea, especially if they really make sure that the cats are not harmed, at least the prisoners have some responsibility and I think the psycho-emotional pressure is reduced.
Yeah, the shelter situation in the US is really bad right now. There’s literally no room for them, so some places are putting them down within a few days if they aren’t claimed.
The real problem is AI bots are recyling old videos with the instructions of "make the most engagement bait story to go along with what you see happening in this video".
Most of these AI voiceovers have no relationship to whats actually happening in the video.
The program is called meowmates (and muttmates for dogs), it is a foster program so the prisoners are only fostering the cats until they get adopted, they do not own them. And not every prisoner gets an animal, they carefully select a few of them. The rest of the video is just made up nonsense to make a more emotional story. Reddit overall is incredibly easy to fool with AI.
That's kind of what got me. The first speaker saying they "surprisingly" don't hurt the animals. Do people think criminals just wake up one day and decide that it's time to be a criminal for no reason at all?
it's almost as putting humans into a confined barely livable space, treating them like animals and profiting of them staying imprisoned is not a good way to rehabilitate them
I had a buddy get out recently. Never hurt a fly. Never would hurt another human. Was growing marijuana out in cali. It's crazy to think that people saw him as a prisoner and would be scared of him.
I expect the vast majority of prisoners aren't malicious psychopaths. They might have serious problems, but they're still people who care about things.
For real, and they make them pay for the cat things too. Industrial prison complex makes me sick. But seeing these convicts get some warmth is everything. The strays deserve being taken care of and the men in there deserve to be treated like humans.
Oh wow, it's almost like those criminals are real people. Just shows what they think of people that mess up. Like they are just bad to the core. I know that some people are but they think all of them are.
My county used to have a jail dogs program but a new sheriff got elected and stopped the program without any input from anyone. He did not win his primary for re-election. ALL of his opponents ran on bringing the jail dogs program back.
There is a group that uses animals(Mostly horses and other farm animals) as therapy for troubled youth. It does help them so that they do not end up in prison. Caring for others teaches sympathy, empathy, understanding and love for others and ones self and that is what we need in the world; more love, less hate.
In case anybody is interested the organization is A.N.T (Animals as Natural Therapy) https://www.animalsasnaturaltherapy.org/
This is the type of thing that would actually help rehabilitate a criminal. There are similar programs for service dogs in early training stages. Each prisoner is responsible for the obedience training, etc, of the puppy.
A quick YouTube search for *prison cat* reveals the scenes are from these mini-documentary features:
* [My Cat from Hell: Inmates Find Redemption Through Cats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceh0PqFVPco) ([slightly shorter version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUb1I571BXo) also available)
* [The Cats That Rule the World: Prison Cat, Galileo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqGvJlDO5Vo)
The prisons are in South Carolina and Washington state, respectively.
I worked in a medium security prison some years ago. Some of the inmates' job was to train Labradors. It was a much sought after job and they did a very well at it.
Every human needs connection. For incarcerated individuals, a pet or service animal that they are training could provide that connection. Animals are affectionate, non-judgmental and will give you the love and loyalty you show to them. It's quite obvious that this is beneficial for the prison population.
It's kinda messed up to make them live in fear that their beloved pet can be taken away at any moment if a guard on a power trip decides they "behaved badly"... And like what happens to the cats? Do they just get sent back to a kill shelter? "If you ever talk back to me, I'll get your cat killed"
I liked the prisons where they foster cats a lot more. Like, they always know it isn't their pet and they'll have to say goodbye at some point, but they get to save several lives and enjoy their company in the meanwhile.
This was my immediate thought. Prison guards could extort prisoners with the threat that they will lose their cat. Other inmates can take advantage of you and you couldn't retaliate for fear of losing your cat too.
Watch the full video linked in a comment above. The prisoners work with cats and dogs. The animals are adopted out or stay in the prison. They don't get sent back to shelters.
For about 2 years I had a post where I supervised male inmates in a medium security unit at a state prison that had a program like this. It was really cool seeing those animals get the love and care they need and at the same time seeing inmates I had seen previously struggle learn that they could nurture and care for something other than themselves.
Interestingly enough my parents ended up adopting one of the dogs from the program.
Pets generally help with depression. It helps to feel loved. I wish we just accepted this more instead of needing studies to prove that people like to be loved.
The reason why most of those "criminals" treat the cats well and gentle is because most of them are just drug addicts. Most of them are not murders and rapists.
I would be on best behavior at all times so my cat isn't taken away
It's a cracking idea. Having a bit of company would keep you sane if you are gonna be in there for years. I can definitely see how this would reduce violence and help rehabilitate folk.
There was a documentary I watched a while ago - It might've been one of those prison reality shows maybe - where this guy was in an isolated large cell and on death row, but he adopted a cat while awaiting his execution. He had done some wild-ass shit to get that sentance if I recall, like he murdered multiple people in cold-blood. But the affection he showed his cat was like he was a different person entirely. He said something along the lines of how she (the cat) was the equivalent to his child and his god, and the only thing he's worried about is her being taken care of after he's put to death. His cat was going to be taken care of regardless, but still. He knew he was going to miss her so much.
Honestly, I don't know how to feel about this. It's still a guy who murdered multiple people. It's nice that he loves his cat, but the people he killed maybe also loved their cats or dogs or other pets. Maybe they loved their kids, their parents... On one hand, it's kind of a nice story but on the other hand, I just feel a bit icky about a guy like that getting any sort of praise or attention because he loves his cat.
He's still locked up and in line to be literally killed for his crimes. I'd say he's still suffering the correct amount of punishment despite being given cat privileges.
I don't see why it'd be better for someone to not change till their last breath versus make an attempt to do a bit of good for something before they are gone. It doesn't erase what they did, but that's why they're on death row? And someone who still decides to do a bit of good, even though it won't change their fate, that action is praise worthy. It doesn't absolve them of what they did or make them a good person, but it's a bit black and white to say acknowledging a good event amongst the bad completely erases the victims.
I can understand that perspective quite a bit. I look at it like this, there’s a significant amount of mental illness involved to see murdering someone as an okay thing to do outside of severe circumstances like self defense. These inmates aren’t in any capacity less human for doing something terrible. Reform is always the best route when it’s an option from my perspective. But for someone like a death row inmate, reform isn’t an option because he’s already been sentenced to death instead. (And indeed some of those inmates genuinely cannot be reformed in a way that would keep them from being likely to kill again upon release.) That is inherently sad. Not because his crime didn’t warrant being on death row, mind you, but because when a criminal cannot be reformed it makes sense that a compassionate individual on the outside would find it to be upsetting. But it hinges on compassion to recognize that even though he’s done terrible things, he’s still human. Allowing him the opportunity to care for someone else, and to have the company in his final days is allowing him to have a shred of his humanity reinstated. It’s not about rewarding or justifying the disturbing and grotesque actions he performed. It’s about recognizing the humanity in other people, and using good judgement to determine who will be able to care for another creature, and in some way regaining their own humanity. At the end of that sentence, he will still die. But he’ll die and we’ll know that while we were unable to reform him, he didn’t die after months of being in fully isolated solitary confinement, multiplying the mental illness he already had. Our compassion dictates that we do things humanely, and our compassion is the reason why we give opportunities for people who have done terrible things to still have some shred of humanity to cling to. It’s okay to feel a mixture of sorrow, disgust, and compassion when viewing a situation where something terrible happened due to the actions of an individual who did horrific things, but still at the end of the day is a human being. It doesn’t mean we let him get away with it, it doesn’t mean we disrespect the victims, it simply means we don’t sacrifice our own humanity by removing all compassion from the situation.
I like what you said about a mix of sorrow, disgust, and compassion regarding such things. Sometimes we (I) need to be reminded that it is entirely okay and valid to feel more than one way about something complicated, and that black and white thinking is cold in almost any context. It seems like in today's thought spheres it isn't acceptable to have mixed emotions, and to feel pressured to feel just one way about an issue. I feel warmth that he connected with something as innocent as a cat, sadness that it will end in his death, anger that he killed people, and sorrow for everyone involved. In the end, his love for that cat is not going to fix anything, its just a little decent thing in a mess of indecency.
It's the duality of man. Sometimes you gotta give the devil his dues, doesn't change what he did but credit where it's due. There's some good in him somewhere, just not towards his fellow man.
The US really needs this widespread our prison system is more of a exile zone than anything. People deserve to be helped and not just thrown away and forgotten.
Yeah, yall could really learn some stuff from us nordic countries
But how will the private prisons make more money? Won't somebody think of the poor wardens? With a hardcore /s for our atrocious "justice" system.
it's stupid that the American prison system effectively wants you to come back for repeat business instead of actually helping and reforming criminals
We had stray cats roaming our yard. I was always jelly of the inmates on the first floor because they could feed the kitties. There once was a hole in one of the grate covering the window that an inmate had slowly peeled back. Long story short, smithville ended up with a cat in his cell and we had a pet cat for about a week or two. He’d go out at night and come back in the morning haha. Guards found out and shut it down. Prison sucks. On a positive note I had a window on the second row facing the horses across the road. Not only could I pull in npr and better radio stations, I got to see some horses 🐎 running around occasionally .
imagine you fuck up once and they take away your little best buddy
You can probably apply for the cat again after more good behavior.
Last time this was posted, someone mentioned that they come from high kill shelters. So if you mess up, your baby gets sent back and killed. You also have to pay for their food yourself from the pennies you make every day. Better than being alone (probably) but highly exploitative. It *is* good but also still bad. Edit: I bet the comment that I saw originally was talking about a *specific* prison. Lots of replies have added other, differing experiences. Sounds like some programs are better than others. 🙂
That's not how it was when I was in there. If you fuck up, you get kicked out, not the dog. Also the county humane society provided the food and toys
> dog. Well I'm interested. Please say as much as you can.
The cats don’t get sent back to the shelter, the prisoner gets kicked out of this section of the prison and someone else is allowed to adopt the cat.
It’s mostly all good. Just highlights the bad that already exists in the prison system.
Not necessarily high kill shelters. My local shelter provided cats for the prison program and they are not a kill shelter
I mean it’s not the best system, but it’s honestly one of the better anyone could probably think of. Like it gives them a really good incentive not to be an asshole. Granted the outcome of them misbehaving might be harsh, but we don’t know what would actually happen, maybe the cat gets sent to a waiting area and waits for a few days in a common area in case they go back to good behavior, or just get assigned to another person.
Imagine another inmate fucks with your cat. You’re 100% gonna shank ‘em.
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I was thinking that, too. If they took my cat away and there was no chance of getting him back, I would act out even more.
I was in one of these programs. They're very hard to get into. Out of 3000 inmates only 8 could be selected. You had to get approval from existing members and an officer to endorse you. Once you get in the rules are very strict. Even minor disciplinary infractions that would normally get ignored will get you kicked out.
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I don't have a full list. I just know the one I was in had one. It was possible to adopt the dog. But you'd had to have someone outside willing to adopt the dog and keep them for you until you got out. Also it cost several hundred dollars. I didn't attempt to take my dog because I knew I was moving out of state soon as I got out. Rocky did get adopted by another inmates family though. His story had a happy ending.
I hope they get to keep the cats upon release.
There was one story about an inmate who fell in love with a cat he was fostering and managed to have it adopted by some family members until he could get out.
My understanding (and this is not an expert opinion) is that the jail keeps the cat for a certain number of years till it's rehabilitates then it given up to an adoption program to be given to the public.the inmate would then a new cat to rehabilitate. This is probably program by program though
I believe some might also get pretty violent if their best friend was taken from them for an unjust reason. Like if your cat got into a fight with another inmates cat and yours get injured, and then you and that inmate start fighting over whose cat started the fight. Both might lose their cat now But overall, this sounds like there are more benefits than not, especially if conflict management is taught to the inmates.
This is the justice reform I want in my country
Agreed. Gives inmates purpose and teaches responsibility. Win-win.
Plus help the cats. And post cute videos for everyone. Win win win win. That’s the kind of winning I want in this country.
And cats are like, the perfect animal for this. Cats don't just automatically love people, you have to earn their trust and how to read their comfort levels with different types of affection. But when you earn that affection, it's the most wonderful thing. I routinely have 3 cats who don't really like each other very much trying to sit on me at once, and I feel so loved. Also they are goofy silly little goblins.
Absolutely! I honestly tear up every time I see a post about one of these prison programs because it’s something that actually HELPS criminals on the road to reform instead of making it impossible to learn and grow
The guy that implemented this program have a YouTube channel, he have a lot of info about cats and how to give them a good home https://youtube.com/@jacksongalaxy
Jackson Galaxy is so very awesome. I love his shows that used to be on Animal Planet. He’d help reform naughty cats on his show My Cat From Hell. He’s a really good guy. I didn’t know he did prison programs too, now I love him even more.
I buy some of his cat toys on a fairly regular basis. Not because of his name, but because they're my cat's favorites.
That's a win win win win
That's the win of winning I win in this winning.
PrisonKats is a youtube/tiktok channel just waiting to be made.
Cats in the Clank*
puss in jumpsuits
Purrrison
And kindness and love and what it feels like being loved.
A big thing missing in the lives of a good majority of the people who end up in prison is kindness. I would say even prisoners who will never get out should have the opportunity to have a pet, if they are good prisoners.
Too true. Often the people prone to violence against others have been subjected to it themselves. Misanthropy is taught and engendered. Those same people, even those outside the carceral system, will show a remarkable capacity for concern for animals and their welfare.
kindness and money, never forget that poverty is the number one cause of violence. maybe they can be well behaved inside the prison and cats might teach them about being loved and stuff. but when (if) they get out, money and not being able to get a job will weigh a lot heavier than the cat they loved.
Purpose and responsibility, but more importantly, a small but powerful taste of being a regular human, instead of animal in a cage with no semblance of normal life. The life they want to get back to.
This is why I like either the Swedish or Switzerland prisons because they teach the prisoners a trade for when they will be released and treat them like humans who will return to society and it works 95% of the time
It's not 95%. Recidivism rates vary widely by length of time following release as well as the offense--not to mention the fact that recidivism is defined differently on a place-by-place basis. Here's one website with an incomplete list of recidivism rates: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country By that data, in Sweden it works ~60% of the time over 2 years after release. But still... Regardless, Scandinavian countries are known for having far better recidivism rates than European or North American countries. Additional, newer data courtesy of u/WitOfTheIrish: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235223000867
I think it’s partly because in somewhere like America we have this perception that majority of prisoners are full blown psychopaths, while in reality most of them are regular people that made some bad decisions. Which is also why it’s surprising to people that the inmates are so kind to the cats. There’s very few people that are Ted Bundy level of sick.
This, people don’t realize just how much of who they are depends on how their parents raised them and what happened to be normal in the environment they grew up in. Every time I try to have a conversation with someone about it they always reply with something like “just don’t commit crimes” and that’s really easy to say as an adult who had people who cared when they were children. The first time I broke into a house I was only 11, it felt like a normal thing to do at the time because that’s what everyone else in my immediate environment was doing so it was normalized at a very young age. I didn’t even consider there might be people who don’t do that. I can’t even remember my first fight, because it was literally a daily thing in my neighborhood as a kid. But it’s hard to explain that to people who think they made it past all these pitfalls because they’re just good people, when they would be the criminal instead of me if they were in my shoes and I were in theirs.
It's also sometimes completely out of the individuals hands. Story time. When I was young my mither worked as a crossing guard, she was over paid, alerted her work, her payroll told her in writing thank you for letting us know you can keep the mistake. Several years pass management and payroll change they comb through the books find her overpayment charge her with theft. She goes to court is found guilty despite having it in writing, she is now a felon.
Yikes that's unbelievable. Do you remember how much she was overpaid? It's wild that they would elect to put someone through that stress and a permanent mark on the record for something she was honest about to begin with. At worst you'd think they'd just have her pay it back and call it good.
It’s been a few years my bad but thanks for correcting me. I just know they do it better then our system
Empathy too. They don't want to hurt their cats or have the cats taken away due to their own actions so they don't react to things by only thinking about themselves, they are empathetic to the cats and know if they act how they want to it will have a negative impact on the cat, so they put the cat first and act things out in a healthier way so they can keep their cat with them and happy.
There's also a bit of a mob mentality thing going on here. In no way would a prisoner who owns a pet be willing to hurt it due to the fact that A they would lose the cat and B most other inmates would likely find out. I would assume abusing an animal is about on par with being a pedo in prison, so they won't exactly be in a safe environment if they choose to be sadistic. Hence the mob mentality thing, there's a veil of fear regarding what others will think of them if they hurt their pet.
Gives them purrpose one might say
Purrpspsps :D
>Agreed. Gives inmates purpose and teaches responsibility. Win-win. But then how is the prison supposed to keep it's labor rentals??
Rehabilitation, not retribution
Would call them...winmates then.
You certainly do mean purrr-pose right?
I’ve volunteered with a rescue that places dogs not ready for adoption in inmate dog training/rehab programs. The program is entirely volunteer-based and mostly inmate led, the experienced volunteers teach the new ones. A lot of the guys who join are older, have been in and out a few times, gang drop-outs, and men tired of the cycle who’ve chosen to change. There’s also a lot of experienced cons who try and get first timers to change before they’re on their 2nd trip and not going to get out until their 40s. It’s still prison and still a high stress living environment but there hasn’t been a fight or a drug/contraband bust on the dog unit in over five years. There’s a pro-social, respectful relationship between staff and residents. Many guys have also taken up educational opportunities. Recidivism among parolees is low and statistically involves relapse or parole rule violations instead of new charges. I know sex offenders are a unpopular subject but the reality is most people with sex crimes will eventually be released back into society, so using incarceration as a time to teach skills, self-awareness, and accountability so that they don’t reoffend and create more victims is and should be of the utmost importance. And our dogs thrive!! These guys put a lot of love and time into their fosters. They train them to pass the Canine Good Citizen Test, teach basic manners and boundaries, and do it all through positive reinforcement- no physical corrections, no scaring the dogs. We send some of the most difficult dogs with unknown or tragic backstories and they come out happy and trusting humans once more. These kinds of programs, whether it’s dogs, cats, or even horses are a win-win-win for the animals, the prisoners, and the communities they will eventually return to. And I’ll tell you what, there’s a lot of giant, tattoo-covered, rock-solid men that cry when they have to send their friends off to their forever homes- and nobody shames them for it.
My niece runs a program just as you describe.
Ours got put on hold during Covid unfortunately, the prisons pretty much went into lockdown and stopped all “non-essential” programs. We’ve been trying to get it going again but unfortunately there’s a lot of back and forth in our state about why prisons exist- to give people a time-out from society and offer them a chance to reform, or to simply lock them away and punish them. The current admin is on a “prison is a punishment” kick. It’s disappointing because that idea has never worked. But it’s cheaper, it’s easier, and it increases the likelihood of reoffending, which keeps prisons full and fed dollars coming in. I knew our justice system was flawed and broken but had no idea how bad it was until I had this level of exposure to it.
Rehabilitation should be the goal. Very few people are evil. Most just took a few wrong turns or were failed by society in some manner. Getting these people on the right track should be the goal of any prison system. Prisons should work to help those that can be helped and the few that are truly evil can be kept away from victims. Rapists and and murderers are obviously different from thieves and so on. Give thieves cats! Meowr.
>Give thieves cats Someone more clever than I should make a cat burglar joke
From the justice system to the cat distribution system.
Ever wonder what the cats did to end up in prison?
You'd have an easier time asking what they *didn't* do
I'm a mental health practitioner who works with chronically suicidal youth, and a lot of them have some of the worst parents I've ever heard of. A couple of them even have parents in prison for what they did to my clients. All of those parents abused their kids because they couldn't cope with capitalism & couldn't, or wouldn't, access resources to help themselves. Every. Single. One. Our economic system deliberately creates the single largest driver of all crime & drug addiction: poverty. It's a deliberate byproduct that exists to threaten people into exploitative work contracts, and it's an inherent part of capitalism. You can't take it out or capitalism dies. So we live in a society that knowingly puts people into the economic conditions that force them to become "criminals" to survive and then abandons them once they actually begin to break laws. Then it further abandons their children, which perpetuates the cycle. All to keep a constant supply of labor, both wage & slave (our prison laborers are legally slaves as per the 13th amendment). I know of no truer expression of evil than this. My whole job is trying to help those kids pick of the shattered pieces of their lives, so they don't end up right where their parents are. It's heartbreaking, and it'd be so easy to prevent this shit. Nothing has made me hate capitalism more than working with dozens of kids that could have done amazing things if they & their ancestors hadn't been beaten down for generations
I want a full fucking cat based economy and I won’t stop until we get there!
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Indiana State Penitentiary starter pack
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That's awful. Do you think the program could work if they didn't enforce removal on those folks just not willing to become informers? It would be great to make something like this viable.
I could absolutely handle a life sentence with a cat by my side.
Honestly I think very few criminals are gonna be the type to hurt an animal for no reason. Even the violent ones or the ones with murder charges. You have to be a very specific type of criminal to hurt a cat.
The ones that hurt animals get an extra incentive not to FAFO. Dawg, you’re gonna hurt my only friend and the primary reason I’m well-behaved…. It.Is.On.
Yeah exactly, you'd have literally every inmate kicking your ass over this. I'm sure there are inmates who don't really like cats but I guess they'd probably just opt out
Prison is so boring, I am sure many who don't really like cats would much rather have one than not.
>Ask Reddit: people who didn't like cats but do now, what happened? > I went to prison.
I am allergic to cats and I would still take the cat
Same Personally I'd ask if I could get 1 with no hair tho If I just get handed a cat I guess I now own a cat.
Some prisoners I've spoken to have secretly befriended and taken care of birds, lizards, and even mice. Seriously any companionship is better than solitude.
Yeah people have pet spiders and whatever in prison. A cat would be welcome to almost everyone.
Yeah, people get killed over being known as the "pedo" in prison, while maybe not on the same level I still can't imagine being known as the "guy who hurt/killed the community cat" lasting long
I'm not even in prison, but I'd end up there if someone hurt my cat, so guys already in prison don't have a fuck of a lot to lose.
I feel like they deserve/would get the same type of treatment.
I took a criminal justice class in college in 1991. We had a guest speaker who had done several stints in federal penitentiaries in Illinois and Indiana. He said they had a mouse problem that was kept in check by the cats allowed to be in the prison. One day an inmate was in a bad mood so he kicked a cat and injured it. The inmate was stabbed to death out in the yard a couple of days later for that kick.
Yeah if you are a cat beater in this prison youd probably get similar treatment to a pedophile. The thousand fist sentence.
I'm a firm believer that people who don't like cats are people who have had no experience with cats or limited negative experiences. My husband "wasn't a cat person" when we met. They'd had barn cats growing up but that was his only experience. He was a "dog guy" and firm about it. Well, it's been 8 years and he and our cat are truly a bonded pair at this point. More importantly, his attitude about cats completely 180d. He's known at work as the cat guy. He will pet any and all cats. He loves cats. It took living with our really great cat for his attitude about an entire species to change.
People who don't like cats have never owned a cat that loves them. More loyal than dogs.
I could see an inmate getting violent real fast if someone hurt a cat intentionally that’s for sure.
Yeah that part of the video took me a back a little bit. Like damn, are we supposed to be conditioned into believing because someone broke the law, that also means they are animal abusers?
People are conditioned to think so much worse about criminals. For one, most people seem fine with enslaving them. And there is often an attitude that the pervasive abuse, rape, neglect, and murder that happens in prison is somehow deserved by the people affected. One of the primary punishments of people in prison, solitary confinement, is considered illegal torture by the rules of war.
Another thing, and not to excuse their prior behavior, but we hold these preconceived notions about convicted criminals so close to our hearts we forget that, at several intervals, under the right circumstances, we could have been in their shoes. How many people are in prison on extended sentences because they made one bad decision at one particular moment that any of us would have been capable of as well? Not forgiving them, but just saying no one is immune from the plight of poor decision making at a moments notice.
Yes, I went to jail this year, and I am not the "type" people would expect to go to jail. And frankly, it was just a bunch of normal people in there. And lots of people, including me plead to things they didn't do to avoid a much worse sentence. It's insane how bad our justice system is.
No it’s just more likely you’d find an animal abuser in prison than the general population. Honestly I bet if someone hurt one of the cats the other inmates would kick the shit of him. Maybe not tho if they’d lose their cats
> I bet if someone hurt one of the cats the other inmates would kick the shit of him. It is true for a lot of cat owners outside prison, if I have to guess it becomes almost sure inside.
It’s all pets, my man. You flip my turtle, I flip your jaw.
Unless they’re in there for some kind of animal cruelty charge… I’d only be concerned about them but even that’s not a universal statement. Otherwise I don’t see any issue with this. Helps reduce the monotony of prison life and gives the inmates a very strong incentive to work and contribute to not lose their cat. It’s restorative to care about something that’s living and can give more meaning to their own lives.
They most likely would screen the inmates beforehand to make sure someone in for animal abuse wouldn’t get to have a pet.
I used to work as a counselor in a jail and you are absolutely correct. It rubbed me the wrong way when they said that. I wish they had this cat program everywhere, lots of incarcerated people are trying to do the best they can and will eventually be released so we owe it to society in general to help them come out better than they came in.
But the prison business needs repeat customers to turn a profit
Sad but true
This is likely a minimum security/non violent classification unit. I’ve worked in county lockup and a min sec prison, and the housing units are separated by classification level based on type of crime. I think this idea would be amazing for the low sec / non violent offenders, but I would certainly urge caution once you climb the crime chain. It’s not as common as one would think, but I deff interacted with guys that were violent sociopaths, that I wouldn’t want anywhere near a pet. These guys see violence as nothing more than “something you do”, without any concern as to who it affects.
Yeah, criminals who are pure evil like Dahmer, Gacy or Bundy are a tiny minority. Most people in this world want to be good and do good, but everyone has different struggles and environments that poison us in various ways.
Criminally insane ones will likely hurt animals. But for everyone else this is a really awesome program.
Animal hurters will weed themselves out of the program and demonstrate they aren't worth the efforts to rehabilitate. That will be considered in whether they get out early, reduced sentences etc. ones who can look after the kitty kitties and do the things expected of them demonstrate they can rejoin society with the right support. They deserve that extra effort. It really is a wonderful idea.
Overcrowded shelters Overcrowded prisons Why isn’t this happening everywhere?
because "fuck criminals, they are no longer human beings" is a common mindset in many countries and its always about punishment and not rehabilitation. you'd be surprised how many folk just want to see criminals suffer. now add that some Prisons actually profit of the work the Prisoners do and thus are trying to keep them in as long as possible ... I had these discussions with a couple coworkers a while back when they showed pictures of a Prisons whose focus was on rehabilitation and I gotta say their takes were absolutely disgusting. barely any compassion and I distanced myself from them afterwards
“Only a Sith deals in absolutes” - Yoda We should recognize not all crimes are equal and some crimes deserve a chance at rehabilitation.
You're totally wrong! That was Obi-Wan, not Yoda I agree to the rest - mostly. Everyone deserves a chance to be evaluated regarding their rehabilitability (is that a word?) and, If possible, deserves a chance at rehabilitation.
Hell, this mindset is super common here on Reddit itself. Many if not most of the Redditors commenting here will go on to demand life imprisonment or death for a criminal in another post and not see or experience any cognitive dissonance.
I love this. It’s totally a good thing to give them away to get out of the mindset of thinking only for themselves. To take care of another living being helps retain their thinking. I would imagine that this helps reduce the recidivism rate. I wonder what the stats are on that?
I read somewhere that a lot of them are lifers but it certainly decreases violence and infractions as that would result in their cat being removed
All around the world the one factor which differentiates criminals, from the rest of the population; is that on average criminals have a far lower standard of educational achievement, than the general members of society. So by politicians providing more funding and targeted funding for education they can reduce crime and criminal reoffending, boost the economy and make people safer. https://youtu.be/5IzcdWEnMRE
But then their buddies who own for profit prisons and companies that utilize prisoners for cheap/free labor would lose money....
And their buddies who make money by charging an arm and leg for people to get education would be angry if education are made affordable
Yeah the vid says people are suprised they don’t hurt the cats. That’s the problem. Politicians have given us a wrong idea of who criminals typically are. They are traumatized people with mental health issues and sometimes mental handicaps. Yeah that’s a lot and yes they did bad things, the vast majority are human beings who made a set of bad/harmful choices in bad situations.
[https://gladdogsnation.com/blogs/blog/healing-behind-bars-how-cats-are-transforming-inmates-lives](https://gladdogsnation.com/blogs/blog/healing-behind-bars-how-cats-are-transforming-inmates-lives) Not from the same situation, but it can give you the gist on how cats or pets can help an inmate.
1 minute in, 5 pop ups asking for money
There’s some research that indicates that having pets teaches kids empathy. I concur, I’m 54 and still regard growing up with animals as one of the best things my parents did. I can totally see how it would help inmates.
Is that Jackson Galaxy there? Awesome!
Yes the video footage is from his show. Don’t know why they put some horrible audio over it instead of the [actual video.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xUb1I571BXo)
Yeah, internet edits suck, but yeah, thanks for sharing. The Cat Daddy rocks
Yeah, this post is some AI generated garbage. I don't know why people upvote stuff like this. You could have made the same story using the real clips. There's several different mini-documentaries on YouTube about prison cats.
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Those cats will be some of the most cared for animals I suspect. They have an enormous amount of time to care for their animals and will do so to keep the companionship
I saw a story about a program like this. One of the inmates in the prison was very dangerous and a constant problem. He was serving a life sentence and did not care about being punished. He really wanted to take part in the cat program. They told him if he altered his behavior (I think he had to go a few months without breaking a rule), they would try it He stopped doing bad things and he got his cat. He was so happy and totally coddled the little cat. It was both touching and funny to see this terrifying, violent man snuggling a cat and talking baby talk to it. The guards said it completely changed his behavior and he became a model prisoner
I a lot of those people have no love in their life so they don’t care about their life, they don’t care about others life. Give them a reason to be good.
I think it's not a bad idea, especially if they really make sure that the cats are not harmed, at least the prisoners have some responsibility and I think the psycho-emotional pressure is reduced.
If I remember correctly, the cats who are taken to this program were on the kill list, so it's a double win.
kill list????
Yes they kill cats in America if they've been in a shelter too long. Dogs too I believe 🥺
Yeah, the shelter situation in the US is really bad right now. There’s literally no room for them, so some places are putting them down within a few days if they aren’t claimed.
😢
Meaning they were set to be euthanized. Likely due to overcrowding at the shelter/wherever they were.
God, I hate this AI generated narration >Every prisoner in this prison has a cat >Only well-behaved inmates have the opportunity to own one
How did I have to scroll this far to find someone who can recognize absolute AI gibberish?
Like, I got the gist, but it sounds terrible.
The real problem is AI bots are recyling old videos with the instructions of "make the most engagement bait story to go along with what you see happening in this video". Most of these AI voiceovers have no relationship to whats actually happening in the video.
The program is called meowmates (and muttmates for dogs), it is a foster program so the prisoners are only fostering the cats until they get adopted, they do not own them. And not every prisoner gets an animal, they carefully select a few of them. The rest of the video is just made up nonsense to make a more emotional story. Reddit overall is incredibly easy to fool with AI.
„Hey chatGPT, create a 30 second TL;DR of this transcript“ probably
I bet the cats get so sad if they're taken back
That was my thought. Hopefully they go to someone else and not a shelter.
That's probably part of the psychology for rehab. Inmate don't want a sad cat missing em. Better stay good so can isn't sad.
Almost like prisoners are real people like you and me. Amazing!!!!!
It's important to remember that empathy and understanding can bridge gaps we never thought possible. Everyone deserves to be seen and heard.
That's kind of what got me. The first speaker saying they "surprisingly" don't hurt the animals. Do people think criminals just wake up one day and decide that it's time to be a criminal for no reason at all?
I agree completely. But then you look around and realise half of America think trump is a good candidate. Stupidity knows no limits.
dude jailed for being caught with an ounce of weed surprisingly didnt bash a cats head in for no reason woahhh
Ya many of them are just normal people who took bad decisions out of overwhelming emotions
So, we shouldn’t kill everyone after they make a mistake? Damn the internet lied to me.
It's not "surprising" if you've ever bothered to get to know humans trapped in this system. Ugh.
it's almost as putting humans into a confined barely livable space, treating them like animals and profiting of them staying imprisoned is not a good way to rehabilitate them
I had a buddy get out recently. Never hurt a fly. Never would hurt another human. Was growing marijuana out in cali. It's crazy to think that people saw him as a prisoner and would be scared of him.
and of course, Jackson Galaxy is immediately recognizable
Love it
I expect the vast majority of prisoners aren't malicious psychopaths. They might have serious problems, but they're still people who care about things.
fuck prisons but havin a buddy there like that must help these people a lot thru a tough time
For real, and they make them pay for the cat things too. Industrial prison complex makes me sick. But seeing these convicts get some warmth is everything. The strays deserve being taken care of and the men in there deserve to be treated like humans.
End carceral slavery now
Oh wow, it's almost like those criminals are real people. Just shows what they think of people that mess up. Like they are just bad to the core. I know that some people are but they think all of them are.
"Surprisingly, this dude we locked up for smoking weed didn't immediately maim a cat"
My cat helped me to stop using drugs as she was sad when I stayed up past the time she had declared as cuddles bed time.
The world: hey, let's treat humans like humans, even if they are in a prison. The USA: revolutionary😱
Cats: *I’m not in here with you, you’re in here with me*
I read that one guy spit on another guy's cat and like 10 guys jumped him because of it
I would pay for a prisoner to have a cat.
My county used to have a jail dogs program but a new sheriff got elected and stopped the program without any input from anyone. He did not win his primary for re-election. ALL of his opponents ran on bringing the jail dogs program back.
There is a group that uses animals(Mostly horses and other farm animals) as therapy for troubled youth. It does help them so that they do not end up in prison. Caring for others teaches sympathy, empathy, understanding and love for others and ones self and that is what we need in the world; more love, less hate. In case anybody is interested the organization is A.N.T (Animals as Natural Therapy) https://www.animalsasnaturaltherapy.org/
Ya, of course they don’t hurt the cats. the US has 20% of the world’s prison population because most of them don’t belong there.
This is the type of thing that would actually help rehabilitate a criminal. There are similar programs for service dogs in early training stages. Each prisoner is responsible for the obedience training, etc, of the puppy.
This program, at Sunnyvale Correctional Facility, was initiated by an inmate who is known simply as, "Bubbles".
I bet it teaches them patience and consent as well. Cause cats are all about it.
A quick YouTube search for *prison cat* reveals the scenes are from these mini-documentary features: * [My Cat from Hell: Inmates Find Redemption Through Cats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceh0PqFVPco) ([slightly shorter version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUb1I571BXo) also available) * [The Cats That Rule the World: Prison Cat, Galileo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqGvJlDO5Vo) The prisons are in South Carolina and Washington state, respectively.
I worked in a medium security prison some years ago. Some of the inmates' job was to train Labradors. It was a much sought after job and they did a very well at it. Every human needs connection. For incarcerated individuals, a pet or service animal that they are training could provide that connection. Animals are affectionate, non-judgmental and will give you the love and loyalty you show to them. It's quite obvious that this is beneficial for the prison population.
It really is a win win for a cat its like having a person locked in your cage.
It's kinda messed up to make them live in fear that their beloved pet can be taken away at any moment if a guard on a power trip decides they "behaved badly"... And like what happens to the cats? Do they just get sent back to a kill shelter? "If you ever talk back to me, I'll get your cat killed" I liked the prisons where they foster cats a lot more. Like, they always know it isn't their pet and they'll have to say goodbye at some point, but they get to save several lives and enjoy their company in the meanwhile.
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This was my immediate thought. Prison guards could extort prisoners with the threat that they will lose their cat. Other inmates can take advantage of you and you couldn't retaliate for fear of losing your cat too.
Watch the full video linked in a comment above. The prisoners work with cats and dogs. The animals are adopted out or stay in the prison. They don't get sent back to shelters.
Companionship is the most human of all emotions. 
These guys take better care of those cats than some of the local posts I’ve encountered on Reddit.
Almost as if... criminals were still human ?
For about 2 years I had a post where I supervised male inmates in a medium security unit at a state prison that had a program like this. It was really cool seeing those animals get the love and care they need and at the same time seeing inmates I had seen previously struggle learn that they could nurture and care for something other than themselves. Interestingly enough my parents ended up adopting one of the dogs from the program.
I love the idea of a society where you rob a store and then are arrested and put into a forced cat-care minigame
Pets generally help with depression. It helps to feel loved. I wish we just accepted this more instead of needing studies to prove that people like to be loved.
I wanna go to this prison instead of the one i went to. The one i went to had dogs. I want cats. >:[ GIMME
How many cats are in prison in that country?? Seems to me like some of them gotta be innocent.
That is the way to create a true win/win situation. Awesome idea someone had.
The reason why most of those "criminals" treat the cats well and gentle is because most of them are just drug addicts. Most of them are not murders and rapists.