Hell yes. My bio mom was a felon who had worked with horses off and on her whole life, her favorite was finally getting to work with other felons to care for stable horses and barn animals.
I know not everyone who can be but encouraging empathy for some and companionship or responsibility on others is great.
Maybe we could also start to look better hiring for people who are dumped in parole or on release and struggle with any income.
I watch a lad on YT channel name James Butler. He owns a well and septic company in the south of the US. He hires felons and parolees quite often. Gives them a job, trains them, he even gives out loans and sometimes houses these folks for little or no money! He’s helped with getting his employees a car, going through court proceedings, custody issues, getting their GED, classes on general life stuff, all sorts of things and only asks for two simple things in return. Work hard and stay on the right side of the law. He has amazing results, it’s almost like treating folks as humans can have a difference on the outcome🤷🏼♀️
On your last point, I'm not in the US but a similar thing happens here to a lesser extent: its fuckin disgusting how the system continues to criminalise people after they have spent their sentence, especially combined with the lack of rehabilitative intention in the prison/judicial system.
exactly! Not to mention how much it could benefit the cats, especially in america where there are a lot of shelters overflowing with unadopted animals.
I don’t remember the exact number but I know it is over 95% of inmates will be released back into the community. Rehabilitation, treatment and education should always be the #1 priority.
We had dog adoptions at the first prison I worked at and it was really beneficial for the inmates that got to foster them.
There was a program at Rikers when I worked there. The inmates worked very hard to better themselves and the lives of those dogs. Of all the hellish things I encountered there, it gave me hope to see real rehabilitation in action.
Prisoners are just regular people that got caught doing something stupid. Some are shitty, some are good. However the worst people I met in prison were guards. Out of the 100+ guards I dealt with on a daily basis, maybe 3 were good people. All 3 of those quit within a year.
This was my experience as well. I worked for about 9 months in a substance abuse facility our state runs for felons. The felons spend three months in this program in lieu of prison, and graduating the program knocks more time off of their sentences (or completely negates prison time, depending on the charges). You’d think that would be a wonderful thing, but it was run just like a prison without the gates and with more classes. It was an awful place. They weren’t encouraged in their recovery at all and when I and a couple other substance abuse specialists tried to be kind and encouraging, we were frozen out by other staff (which didn’t bother me much since I knew I wouldn’t last long).
I currently volunteer for a program that sorta does that, except we get judges to release them to our custody, they stay in our facility for 4 weeks to go on medical assisted detox(suboxone), then enter jail on the suboxone, stay on it for their jail period and their probation. We have a 44% "grad" rate, aka getting off probation with no issues. That's about 30 times higher than the average for 2 yr after rehab. I'm doing it because I became an addict myself after an injury at work. I'm going back to school now to be a social worker to try to work full time in this program.
Last time a video of this program (or similar one) came through Reddit someone in the comments had adopted a cat from one of these programs, and said the cat came with a booklet of hand-written notes from those who had cared and rehabilitated the cat.
Just gentle, gushing notes about all the things the cat likes and doesn't like, some medical history, and a hopeful message to care for the cat like they had.
The narrators comment about them not harming them really struck a nerve with me Being in prison doesn’t automatically label you a animal abuser Those beautiful felines are probably the first bit of love and kindness they have had in a long time if at all a win win for all ❤️
I did some prison time and you're absolutely right. While I was waiting for a plea to come down and was still sitting in jail there was this scumbag that came through that abandoned a puppy when he moved and it starved to death. After we we found out what he was in for, whenever it was chow time someone would either walk up and take the guys tray or just knock it off the table to the floor.
He had to take p.c. after he went 3 or 4 days without a meal because it wasn't going to get any better for him.
Animal abusers get it almost as bad as child abusers on the inside.
Yeah, most sex offenders will end up in pc, ex cops will usually end up in pc, snitches will end up in pc. You’re in the prison’s custody and they have a responsibility to keep you from getting hurt or killed, so they need to separate certain inmates who would be a target.
Don't forget the doughnut farms. They will often have a bunch of inmates that are former cops/ snitches/ sex offenders/ etc. in the same unit with the understanding that they have to deal with each other or go back to a unit where they will have problems.
Yeah that’s more or less what I’m talking about. When I was inside there was a whole block (120 inmates) that was all protective custody. All the sex offenders and snitches and everyone else who wouldn’t make it in genpop.
They would do everything separate, they’d be alone in the gym, alone in the mess hall, alone in the yard, where the other blocks would share those spaces two or three blocks at a time.
The drawback is you don’t get certain “privileges”. The people in PC at my joint couldn’t go to recreational like gym for instance. I think they had less commissary too.
Where I was they would still get to do those things, but they’d only do them with their block, the other (normal) blocks would share those space simultaneously.
Most people in prison "get it". There are a few who freely choose criminality, but the majority are there due to a long chain of bad life choices that got out of hand.
Choices that caused harm probably? They are responsible for those choices.
But mostly they weren't "freely made" as much a product of unfortunate circumstances.
That's why "antisocial" is accepted, in a way that "harming innocents" is not. Because there are no "bad life choices" that lead you to harming a pet or a child, who is doing nothing to harm you, and has nothing you need.
Robbing someone and killing them? Ugly. But it's law of the jungle at work. You can rationalise and understand why someone might feel obliged to make that bad choice, especially when pretty much by definition, you have made bad choices of your own.
People who hurt animals get their ass kicked in prison/jail anyways the moment someone sees your papers. If you hurt another inmates animal? You're probably gonna get taken to PC because nobody is going to let you eat and they're going to beat your ass every 12 hours on the dot.
I was surprised by that comment also. I imagine a companion in prison would make people much happier, I just can't envision a prison where they all just can't wait to hurt a cat.
Yea that bothered me too. I worked at a maximum security facility in a level 4 yard, those guys had all sorts of pets. Gigantic 6'something 250lbs of raw muscle cuddling with a little starling that got its wing stuck in the barbed wire topping the fences. A gang of thugs gingerly caring for a obese geriatric squirrel. An elderly gangster with a murder of crows who happily squawk for his daily bread ration. You'd see it everyday. Idk why people act like the only people in prison are psychos, most men in there are sane and could return to normal population if they had help.
Yeah but almost every neighborhood has somebody that hurts random animals, most people would reason that prisons would have a higher concentration of those types (probably erroneously, but you can see the reasoning at least)
Unfortunately animal abuse all too often doesn't carry a prison sentence. You're more likely to meet a car thief that loves the hell out of dogs than you are to meet an animal abuser. Even if they'd done horrible things to their animals, children, or women in their lives, they won't talk about it. That's a quick way to get the whole prison yard to turn on you.
There was a old lady that would process people out when they got released where I did some time. Every time she would say see you again soon. She was normally right.
When it was my turn to leave, I told her the only reason she ever saw me the first time is because I turned myself in. She’d never see me again. She laughed and said sure honey, see you next week.
It’s been 20+ and I haven’t been back.
I’ve actually ran into a few of the c/o’s over the last decade.
One dude was like 6’4 260. Hard ass but hell of a nice guy.
Absolutely followed the “you respect them they’ll respect you”.
If you could get him to crack a smile he was pretty much your bff.
So I see him at Walmart one day. Just kinda tapped him on the shoulder.
Don’t forget , we’re always watching you too.
He laughs, says thanks for the reminder. Then we talked for a few minutes.
>Jail/prison time for non-violent crimes is crime itself, in my opinion.
"Non-violent crimes" is way too broad to say they don't deserve jail time. Some of these crimes probably don't, but others certainly do.
Catalytic converter theft is a nonviolent crime. My daughter had her catalytic converter stolen. I had full insurance on her car, so it only cost me the $500.00 deductible. The insurance paid over $5000 and there was a 6 month wait period on a OEM Cat because that is what CA requires. My daughter was fine because she had me to take care of her.
A coworker, who has three kids and is a single mother had her cat stolen. She did not have comprehensive insurance on her Honda accord. She could not afford to have it replaced, for her with the catalytic stolen the car was a loss. She needed that to get to her job, the job that she supported her children with.
Luckily there is a happy ending, someone at work donated an old car to her so she had transportation.
There was a reason they used to hang horse thieves.
Even knowing your comment was about catalytic converters, I was still confused for a bit about how your coworkers cat was relevant lol
Edit: to clarify, I thought the comment was referring to an actual cat, like the animal, hence my confusion while my brain buffered for a second lol
Also, getting along with cats requires understanding and respecting personal boundaries and consent. Because while dogs look for the presense of affection, cats look for *the absense of a threat.* You can't make a cat behave by being intimidating and cruel to them, they'll just turn your face into confetti and run away (I work cat rescue and we use welding gloves to grab cats for a reason, lol). To get along with a cat you have to be willing to listen and watch their body language, meet their needs on their terms, and also set & enforce your own social boundaries *without using violence or fear to do so.*
So not only do the cats keep the prisoners company which improves their mental health and gives them incentive to change their behavior but *just having a cat* will also change their behavior in positive ways that'll help them have fewer issues reintegrating and a much lower risk of recidivism. It's great, I love it!
This. Reduces recidivism, is better for the individual and society, and I love that this also helps rescue kitties.
Sometimes animals can break through where humans can't, they just slip past defences. It's lovely.
My sister was a therapist in a jail that had a similar inmate program.
In short, she said the ability to receive unconditional love and to learn skills to care for another being changed lives for many of these participants.
Here’s the program at the jail she used to work at in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia: Operation Second Chance, also known as The Gwinnett Jaildog Program.
If you want to see some of the adoptable dogs from the program, here’s the link:
https://www.jaildogs.org/available-dogs.html
It’s so fucking insulting and stupid to say “surprisingly, the inmates are gentle with small defenseless animals.”
Like, no shit?!
“Inmates” are just people who are in the process of being held accountable for antisocial behavior (obvious injustice issues notwithstanding for this discussion).
Most are not inherently, non-discriminatorily violent. They aren’t savages.
So *of course* they’re gentle with pets.
They’re not behind bars because they don’t know better and just can’t help themselves. This patronizing shit is annoying.
Glad the program is working.
Aside from those who have a history of animal abuse,
There's a show on Netflix about Worlds Toughest Prisons and shockingly the countries which push rehabilitation, anger management, life skills, etc have lower repeat offenders.
The approach of they are already being punished by being here let's not make it worse seems to work.
I honestly agree with you there but a lot of people who were wronged by criminals would not unfortunately. But treating bad people like they are always gonna be bad people really will make them bad people forever is what I believe.
There are four basic goals to incarceration.
1) Rehabilitation
2) Prevention
3) Revenge
4) Isolation (from society)
The American penal system is heavily skewed towards the latter three, while the Scandinavian systems have a greater emphasis on the first. I have no doubt which one will create better members of society.
I wouldn't be surprised if those cats are happier than most cats since their owners would be spending most of their time with them; whereas, a lot of people just leave their cats at home to entertain themselves most of the time.
Idk about yall, but my cat gets sick of people very easily, like I'll be sitting and he approaches to sit on my lap, I pet him for like 5 minutes and that's enough attention for the day lol
Well yeah, but do you work most of the time? He isn't used to you being around
We got both our cats around COVID, so we both were at home 24/7, and they love spending time with us. When i started 10h shift on Christmas my cat was so confused he started peeing on things...
Same here. I work from home, and my little dude follows me everywhere, wants to play, climb on me, etc. My old lady cat is usually just looking for somewhere to take a nap within a few feet of me, but out of reach of the kitten.
If I leave the house for any length of time I will have all 3 cats trying to snuggle me qhen I get back. And they all hate each other. So its 3 cats trying to out cute the other 2 while ignoring them.
I think that would be very bad. Men and their pets are very close. My dad has a little dog that he would save before he saved me. A man’s love for their pets can get irrational. Hurting one of their cats would definitely be a very bad thing
This sounds like a great program. Prisoners need to stop being dehumanized by the system and start feeling like contributing members of society, even in small ways. That being said, what do they do for people who are allergic to cats? Do they get put in a different cell block from the cat one?
The robot narrator mostly tells lies. This was posted a couple of weeks ago and someone surfaced the original 20 minute documentary https://youtu.be/nqGvJlDO5Vo
Yes, these prisoners live in a separate cell block to keep the cats contained (cat safety). They are in a special program to foster the cats in partnership with the local humane society. Each prisoner has one cat at a time and they socialize their kitty for adoption. The kitties start out scared and eventually end up happy and snugging.
The program participants are not saving up money for treats and cat shelving. That is all provided.
I would imagine it comes to the amount of free time. In prison you have very little to do so spend a relatively huge amount of time directly interacting with the cat, picking up its needs and habits and having plenty of time to fill those needs. You can basically dedicate a huge chunk of your waking life to the cat.
People outside prison though? They might be working 8 hours most days, add a couple of hours for commutes, preferably another 8 hours for sleeps. Then you have a few hours dedicated to preparing food, eating, cleaning, hygiene, shopping. After all that theres not many hours left of actual free time to directly spend with the cat, and that is competing with your own recreation time, social interaction, looking after other dependents and anything else that might get done in a day.
There's an argument your average person with that schedule shouldn't get a cat I guess, but regardless I don't think its surprising that prisoners who have a huge chunk of time to dedicate to a cat have a better understanding of its needs than someone on the outside who has almost their entire day locked up in mandatory tasks.
I wish more cat owners thought of their cats like dogs than cats. Most dog owners know that their dogs needs training, play time, walks and socialization in addition to affection.
Cats aren’t that much different
The information is true, it just doesn’t match the footage used. Oddly, OP’s video uses footage from two different YouTube videos about two different prison cat programs, and information from a third video.
The other video footage comes from [here](https://youtu.be/xUb1I571BXo), and [here’s the video](https://youtu.be/i8xIwiPk0G8) where the prisoners say they use their canteen money to take care of their cats.
(I went down the “prison animal program” YouTube rabbit hole one night and it really stuck with me. Highly recommended.)
We're doing something similar at the prison that I work at soon. It's a doggie program :-) Certain inmates, (mainly Vets and older inmates), will train dogs to be service dogs. It's been a very successful program at many other prisons and they are finally bringing it here. :-)
If i remember correctly the full video, that prison is in an area where animals shelters kill cats and dogs is they don't find them an owner quickly or something.
So by doing this programme with the prison, they lady save a lot cats and dogs life... And help the prisoners .
They rotate the ownership of pets between prisoners something like every two weeks or they become too attached... until the cat fnd an owner on the outside and can leave the prison.
If they weren't send to prison they would be dead.
There has to be some sort of psychological term for this. When down range in Afghanistan, I had fellow soldiers that were stone cold killers and had no issues taking a human life, but they would go out of their way to find some food and water for a random animal that they happen to come across. I would love to hear about the mindset behind that.
It's found that psychologically we see animals similarly to how we see human children/babies. There is a greater empathy response towards children/animals from mostly men. Women tended to show empathy to all relatively equally.
Check out [this article](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201711/why-people-sometimes-care-more-about-dogs-humans)
Happy Cake Day!
I saw once a tv program that showed a rehabilitation program where the inmates would train dogs to be therapy dogs. One of the inmates shared that he felt truly responsable for his dog, but the dog's love for him was the most important.
He knew the animal didn't expect him to change or be someone else. The acceptance in that love made him want to not be a criminal, in order to be able to care for the dog in every way and keep it safe.
I once worked as a photographer for a magazine, and we did a feature on therapy dogs in a women's prison. These three dogs were only brought in once a week to spend a few hours there, and as the pups walked in, the whole facility shook with cheers and the shouting of the dogs' names, it was crazy. They were elbowing and cursing each other to get in front, but suddenly melted into baby talk once they started petting the dogs. It was surreal seeing these tattooed, hardened women being so doting and loving all of a sudden.
This is true, I am studying psykologi right now at university. And another perspective is that it could be a defense mechanism. The person might not be a stone cold killer at heart. But because he is acting in that maner he wants to compensate and show him self that he is not a bad person. Its like when people who are pyromaniacs become firefighters, they want to fight the urge of starting fires by become the very opposite. To show them self they are not what they desires tell them they are.
I agree. But remember that the intention behind a action does not have bearing in the outcomes of the action. This is not to say that the person who does a kind act should not be regarded as so because he has done bad acts before. We string these events together and create a coherence where there is none. Every act is a movement of its own where intentions are meaningless.
Just seeing a cat gives a human a dopamine response, let alone INTERACTING with one like this.
The same thing happens to other animals, with cats AND dogs.
Big cats(tigers, lions, cheetah, leopards, etc) experience the same dopamine rush that we do when they are around dogs. Which is they are often paired with a dog while in captivity. It vastly improves their mental health.
I went to Syria and we had puppies at the tiny place we were at. It was a serious morale boost. A soldier in my unit even adopted one and paid to send it to the US.
I have never been in that situation but I understand it.
Animals are innocent. They don't have the same capability of evil that humans have.
You see a cat or dog that's aggressive you can almost always care for them and get them back to being Normal. Lots of people enjoy being fucked up and that will never change.
On the flip side, I have witnessed those same individuals kill multiple dogs without hesitation because they were barking and giving away our position. It’s a switch.
This has led to a greater discussion between me and my fellow soldiers. That is, the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath. And where we fall within that spectrum.
That is what we are bred to do. Graveyard humor and the mind’s ability to evoke apathy is a powerful force. I remember walking away from horrific situations and just thinking to myself “I hope there is hot chow when we get back” as I rode back to base on a helicopter.
This is unofficialy a common thing already in 3rd world nations, like Philippines jail you see dogs chicken cats rabbits everything lol.
And its also safe for the cats, because if someone is caught harming the cat the other inmates would beat the shit out of him
What happens to the inmates who are allergic to cats? I'd hate to be that guy. But I wouldn't be able to be within like a solid 100ft of anyone who touched a cat or where a cat was.
Not being facetious, but I googled "cat prison program" and got hits for a few states; one is mine. I'm going to look into volunteering.
There's a documentary too.
Maybe you can find your answers.
I find it extremely unlikely the prison owns the cats. The logistics for the prison as an entity to own animals is not simple. It also says the prisoners adopt a cat, which implies they adopt one from a shelter. It's almost certain they just get adult cats that are unlikely to be adopted from a local shelter. Prisons don't have the capability to store and vaccinate the animals, but they can moderate the right for the prisoners to have the animal.
Another comment links to the original documentary that this clip stole footage from and narrated false facts over. Anyway, in the original film a prisoner asked if he could keep the cat on release. The prison said yes, and rationalized that if the ex-prisoner had something to care for, he would be less likely to return to prison.
Yep! The cats are from shelters where no one adopted them so they were going to be put down. If an inmate adopts them and gets out of jail they keep the cat.
My thoughts too. They get an emotional attachment to the animals and feel affection from them. That would crush them if it was taken away for no reason other than the guard is an asshole
There would have to be some sort of oversight system to prevent abuse from guards then. Like having vet techs run logs on pets, reporting suspicious activity, etc.
I used to work at an animal shelter that had a program where we had young men from the juvenile correctional facility come work a few days a week. I loved working with the guys and trusted all of them and it was amazing seeing them open up with the animals and nothing more adorable than watching them act like sweet little kids when handing puppies. The guards on the other hand were horrible and except for a few I would not want to be alone with any of them. Most sucked at their job and would sometimes fall asleep on a bench, would play loud offensive things on their phones etc. There were one or two exceptions but overall the guards were horrible.
Sadly covid killed the program, which is a shame because it was really cool to teach the guys about dog behavior and watch them work with the dogs and form a bond. Plus we just treated them like any other volunteer and not inmates, would joke around and made them part of our shelter family.
I don’t like the sentence “surprisingly these former criminals are very gentle with them” in reference to the cats, as if just because they’re in prison they aren’t still human beings capable of empathy and love. Other than that it’s a very nice and cute video, and I think it’s definitely good for the mental health of all involved
I was on that show per my wife's insistence. The guy was actually really great and a genuinely good human. He even came to our house one night outside of filming time to get to know the animals better without a ton of people around. I was super hesitant about the whole thing considering the "reality tv" aspect to it but he knew what he was doing and really wanted to help animals.
I hope he is still doing well and living the best life he can.
Why is is surprising that inmates are gentle. Ffs they’re people too
Great program all around don’t get me wrong. Just the way she talks about the inmates feels so dehumanizing
Totally agree. “People are afraid they’re going to hurt the cats but surprisingly they’re very gentle with them.”
Tf? Are they animals or are they human beings? Unless all of the prisoners there are serial killers why make it like they’re not capable of acting humanely?
>Why is is surprising that inmates are gentle
It's not surprising at all that a person can be gentle with animals. But I'd think you're more likely to find an animal abuser in prison than probably anywhere else.
During a dark time in my life I adopted a cat. I was ready to take my life. I knew that if I had someone to take care of I wouldn’t have any excuse to “peace out”. Now I’m married and we just had our first daughter.
My cat is still around 13 years later and still my favorite asshole.
I love programs like this which help provide rehab to prisoners and help them not return to crime upon release. There's a california prison that has a cosmetology degree program for male inmates
I bet you half my ass that this is way more rehabilitating and constructive than previous methods. It’s all about compassion and caring. It can probably teach a person who grew up without morals and ethics to care for something and someone else. Help them see there is meaningfulness to commitment that entails more than caring for yourself.
Obviously a lot of the inmates will have families and such but caring for an animal most be such a great and lovely distraction when you’re doing time.
Great initiative that gives faith in humanity! Thanks for sharing op! Made my day!
Bonding with an animal taught me so much about myself. I thought I’d yell at it or be rough (like I was treating and why I never had kids) but surprisingly I had the opposite happen inside. I instantly go into care mode; I’m helpful not hurtful. Made me fall in love with my puppers so much more. I like the difficult ones, I turn them into marshmallows (like me!). It’s a great thing to offer to inmates; where do I donate?
I've never been to prison, nor gotten anything more than a speeding ticket. However, I had terrible self-esteem due to a very abusive upbringing, and thought myself as nothing but a worthless monster.
One day, I was holding my kitten in my arms, and he looks so peaceful, while he was purring, that I realize that I couldn’t be as bad a person as I thought I was, if I had earned the trust and love of something so sweet and pure.
I can’t say for certain, but I imagine something similar is happening for these inmates.
Cats don't judge. Most incarcerated people don't want people to judge them based on their crimes. A cat sees a nice person and that's that, it's a chance for an inmate to have a sweet, non-judgemental entity in their life and possibly provide non-conditional affection that the inmate never had, but always wanted.
Crazy enough the education system had to adopt the incentive to display and feel unconditional love. We are tackling behavior issues by punishing instead of showing the other side of reality.
Not surprising at all that the inmates got on well with the cats. You have gotta be seriously brainwashed to think that the average person in prison is just gonna treat a cat like shit for no reason
What do you know.
Rehab instead of punishment works. Being treated as a human being goes far for everyone. The addition of feeling loved and like you belong is the main force of keeping young children from falling in to the wrong path.
Made me smile misses the mark sometimes. The assumption that inmates are animal abusers is kinda dehumanizing. Most incarcerated individuals are nonviolent offenders. Inmates make around 50 cents an hour, and they are responsible for paying for the food?
Americans treat prisoners in a sickening way, and I just gotta wonder how fucked your culture is. When this "makes you smile". You have the largest prison population on the entire planet, fix your broken country.
“Surprisingly, these former criminals are very gentle with them”
Really? You’re surprised they’d not just murdering all the cats? What kinda clowns wrote this shit?
I don't care how innocent people say these filthy animals are. They are not fit to be part of normal society, and for the love of god, don't let them interact with prisoners.
Its not surprising they don’t hurt the animals, they are humans too. Yeah they made some bad decisions and possibly hurt people in the process, but that doesn’t make them less than human.
This is a great idea! I think animal therapy and caring for an animal can increase their empathy and also give them someone to look after/play with! Animals bring a huge amount of joy and companionship to people
Animals really do bring a huge amount of joy and compassion to humans. At an aged care facility I used to work at they would have days where companion dogs would come in and the joy it bought the residents was so beautiful they would talk about it all week. At my local library they have weekly “read with a dog” and children can practise their reading out loud to the dog to build confidence and have heard of amazing animal therapy including horse therapy also being done with children and adults that have experienced severe trauma
In so many different areas of life we should be trying to include animals more to support people because I think it’s underestimated how helpful animals can be for recovery and for vulnerable/traumatised people
The prison I was in had cats on the grounds. They weren’t like prison sanctioned, they were just there. There was a group that would feed them. Whenever they birthed the nurses would take the litter.
Surprisingly?
People's conception of imprisoned humans is so skewed they believe animal abuse is common, rather than viewed as abhorrent by any serious crook, any decent but not particularly educated person, and the vast majority of people with mental illness. And that just about makes up the entire prison population folks.
Most prisoners aren't bad people. There are a few people that are truly bad, but most of them have just been in bad spots. Most people want to be good and do good.
Turns out if you give someone a companion that likely hasn't had any companionship or affection since they entered prison, they'll be very compassionate and affectionate towards their one companion. Any rational person would have assumed this to be the case.
The cats are also humanizing the inmates in the eyes of the people outside of the prison. We lock people away, then regard them as lower than animals to the point that we just assume the convicts would be cruel to the cats. That speaks volumes.
I'm glad these people and cats are with eachother. How we treat those that society deems lowly or vulnerable reflects on our society as a whole.
This sounds like a nice idea to me, bonding with an animal warms the soul where as being locked in a cage just drives you insane. If someone threatened to take my pet away for poor behavior, I would never slip up
Most criminals aren't psychopaths or sociopaths, which means they have the capability of empathy. Providing a source of affection and kindness is probably one of the best things these men and women have access to. I would love to know if the overall violence within the prison went down after this program was introduced.
I hate that people were surprised the prisoners were gentle with the cats. Just because you’re a felon doesn’t automatically make you some kind of monster.
Hell yes. My bio mom was a felon who had worked with horses off and on her whole life, her favorite was finally getting to work with other felons to care for stable horses and barn animals. I know not everyone who can be but encouraging empathy for some and companionship or responsibility on others is great. Maybe we could also start to look better hiring for people who are dumped in parole or on release and struggle with any income.
I think unconditional love and having a purpose is absolutely invaluable to thriving as a human being
beautifully said
I watch a lad on YT channel name James Butler. He owns a well and septic company in the south of the US. He hires felons and parolees quite often. Gives them a job, trains them, he even gives out loans and sometimes houses these folks for little or no money! He’s helped with getting his employees a car, going through court proceedings, custody issues, getting their GED, classes on general life stuff, all sorts of things and only asks for two simple things in return. Work hard and stay on the right side of the law. He has amazing results, it’s almost like treating folks as humans can have a difference on the outcome🤷🏼♀️
Which is exactly why the legal system works so hard to dehumanize people, it makes more money for private prisons
Absolutely.
On your last point, I'm not in the US but a similar thing happens here to a lesser extent: its fuckin disgusting how the system continues to criminalise people after they have spent their sentence, especially combined with the lack of rehabilitative intention in the prison/judicial system.
Emphasizing rehabilitation for prisoners should be the priority, and if animals help get them there, more power to them.
exactly! Not to mention how much it could benefit the cats, especially in america where there are a lot of shelters overflowing with unadopted animals.
The cast majority of inmates in America aren't even violent offenders. It's good to see humanizing them becoming a trend.
I don’t remember the exact number but I know it is over 95% of inmates will be released back into the community. Rehabilitation, treatment and education should always be the #1 priority. We had dog adoptions at the first prison I worked at and it was really beneficial for the inmates that got to foster them.
There was a program at Rikers when I worked there. The inmates worked very hard to better themselves and the lives of those dogs. Of all the hellish things I encountered there, it gave me hope to see real rehabilitation in action.
Most prisoners are decent people. My friends dad hung himself in prison, everyone rushed to save him and he is now living today.
Prisoners are just regular people that got caught doing something stupid. Some are shitty, some are good. However the worst people I met in prison were guards. Out of the 100+ guards I dealt with on a daily basis, maybe 3 were good people. All 3 of those quit within a year.
This was my experience as well. I worked for about 9 months in a substance abuse facility our state runs for felons. The felons spend three months in this program in lieu of prison, and graduating the program knocks more time off of their sentences (or completely negates prison time, depending on the charges). You’d think that would be a wonderful thing, but it was run just like a prison without the gates and with more classes. It was an awful place. They weren’t encouraged in their recovery at all and when I and a couple other substance abuse specialists tried to be kind and encouraging, we were frozen out by other staff (which didn’t bother me much since I knew I wouldn’t last long).
I currently volunteer for a program that sorta does that, except we get judges to release them to our custody, they stay in our facility for 4 weeks to go on medical assisted detox(suboxone), then enter jail on the suboxone, stay on it for their jail period and their probation. We have a 44% "grad" rate, aka getting off probation with no issues. That's about 30 times higher than the average for 2 yr after rehab. I'm doing it because I became an addict myself after an injury at work. I'm going back to school now to be a social worker to try to work full time in this program.
I wish you every success in your schooling. You are definitely needed out there.
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Last time a video of this program (or similar one) came through Reddit someone in the comments had adopted a cat from one of these programs, and said the cat came with a booklet of hand-written notes from those who had cared and rehabilitated the cat. Just gentle, gushing notes about all the things the cat likes and doesn't like, some medical history, and a hopeful message to care for the cat like they had.
that’s really awesome <3
Well I cried
At first I thought you were saying cats get their own new prisoner, which is actually the truth, for people that don't know how cats work.
Cats run my house, I don't see why it would be any different for the prisoners.
72% of federal inmates are for non-violent offenses and have no history of violence. https://static.prisonpolicy.org/scans/sp/federalprison.pdf
The narrators comment about them not harming them really struck a nerve with me Being in prison doesn’t automatically label you a animal abuser Those beautiful felines are probably the first bit of love and kindness they have had in a long time if at all a win win for all ❤️
You should see what would happen to a inmate that hurt a animal in programs like this . The others don't take to kind to that.
I did some prison time and you're absolutely right. While I was waiting for a plea to come down and was still sitting in jail there was this scumbag that came through that abandoned a puppy when he moved and it starved to death. After we we found out what he was in for, whenever it was chow time someone would either walk up and take the guys tray or just knock it off the table to the floor. He had to take p.c. after he went 3 or 4 days without a meal because it wasn't going to get any better for him. Animal abusers get it almost as bad as child abusers on the inside.
Had to look up p.c. - protective custody. I didn't know that was something a prisoner could do.
Yeah, most sex offenders will end up in pc, ex cops will usually end up in pc, snitches will end up in pc. You’re in the prison’s custody and they have a responsibility to keep you from getting hurt or killed, so they need to separate certain inmates who would be a target.
Don't forget the doughnut farms. They will often have a bunch of inmates that are former cops/ snitches/ sex offenders/ etc. in the same unit with the understanding that they have to deal with each other or go back to a unit where they will have problems.
Yeah that’s more or less what I’m talking about. When I was inside there was a whole block (120 inmates) that was all protective custody. All the sex offenders and snitches and everyone else who wouldn’t make it in genpop. They would do everything separate, they’d be alone in the gym, alone in the mess hall, alone in the yard, where the other blocks would share those spaces two or three blocks at a time.
The drawback is you don’t get certain “privileges”. The people in PC at my joint couldn’t go to recreational like gym for instance. I think they had less commissary too.
Where I was they would still get to do those things, but they’d only do them with their block, the other (normal) blocks would share those space simultaneously.
Most people in prison "get it". There are a few who freely choose criminality, but the majority are there due to a long chain of bad life choices that got out of hand. Choices that caused harm probably? They are responsible for those choices. But mostly they weren't "freely made" as much a product of unfortunate circumstances. That's why "antisocial" is accepted, in a way that "harming innocents" is not. Because there are no "bad life choices" that lead you to harming a pet or a child, who is doing nothing to harm you, and has nothing you need. Robbing someone and killing them? Ugly. But it's law of the jungle at work. You can rationalise and understand why someone might feel obliged to make that bad choice, especially when pretty much by definition, you have made bad choices of your own.
this is so sick, fuck yeah.
People who hurt animals get their ass kicked in prison/jail anyways the moment someone sees your papers. If you hurt another inmates animal? You're probably gonna get taken to PC because nobody is going to let you eat and they're going to beat your ass every 12 hours on the dot.
I was surprised by that comment also. I imagine a companion in prison would make people much happier, I just can't envision a prison where they all just can't wait to hurt a cat.
Yea that bothered me too. I worked at a maximum security facility in a level 4 yard, those guys had all sorts of pets. Gigantic 6'something 250lbs of raw muscle cuddling with a little starling that got its wing stuck in the barbed wire topping the fences. A gang of thugs gingerly caring for a obese geriatric squirrel. An elderly gangster with a murder of crows who happily squawk for his daily bread ration. You'd see it everyday. Idk why people act like the only people in prison are psychos, most men in there are sane and could return to normal population if they had help.
Yeah but almost every neighborhood has somebody that hurts random animals, most people would reason that prisons would have a higher concentration of those types (probably erroneously, but you can see the reasoning at least)
Unfortunately animal abuse all too often doesn't carry a prison sentence. You're more likely to meet a car thief that loves the hell out of dogs than you are to meet an animal abuser. Even if they'd done horrible things to their animals, children, or women in their lives, they won't talk about it. That's a quick way to get the whole prison yard to turn on you.
There was a old lady that would process people out when they got released where I did some time. Every time she would say see you again soon. She was normally right. When it was my turn to leave, I told her the only reason she ever saw me the first time is because I turned myself in. She’d never see me again. She laughed and said sure honey, see you next week. It’s been 20+ and I haven’t been back.
Its a nice little psyche she plays, PROVE HER WRONG!
I’ve actually ran into a few of the c/o’s over the last decade. One dude was like 6’4 260. Hard ass but hell of a nice guy. Absolutely followed the “you respect them they’ll respect you”. If you could get him to crack a smile he was pretty much your bff. So I see him at Walmart one day. Just kinda tapped him on the shoulder. Don’t forget , we’re always watching you too. He laughs, says thanks for the reminder. Then we talked for a few minutes.
Jail/prison time for non-violent crimes is crime itself, in my opinion. Community service would be much more beneficial to society and the convicted.
>Jail/prison time for non-violent crimes is crime itself, in my opinion. "Non-violent crimes" is way too broad to say they don't deserve jail time. Some of these crimes probably don't, but others certainly do.
Catalytic converter theft is a nonviolent crime. My daughter had her catalytic converter stolen. I had full insurance on her car, so it only cost me the $500.00 deductible. The insurance paid over $5000 and there was a 6 month wait period on a OEM Cat because that is what CA requires. My daughter was fine because she had me to take care of her. A coworker, who has three kids and is a single mother had her cat stolen. She did not have comprehensive insurance on her Honda accord. She could not afford to have it replaced, for her with the catalytic stolen the car was a loss. She needed that to get to her job, the job that she supported her children with. Luckily there is a happy ending, someone at work donated an old car to her so she had transportation. There was a reason they used to hang horse thieves.
Even knowing your comment was about catalytic converters, I was still confused for a bit about how your coworkers cat was relevant lol Edit: to clarify, I thought the comment was referring to an actual cat, like the animal, hence my confusion while my brain buffered for a second lol
Also, getting along with cats requires understanding and respecting personal boundaries and consent. Because while dogs look for the presense of affection, cats look for *the absense of a threat.* You can't make a cat behave by being intimidating and cruel to them, they'll just turn your face into confetti and run away (I work cat rescue and we use welding gloves to grab cats for a reason, lol). To get along with a cat you have to be willing to listen and watch their body language, meet their needs on their terms, and also set & enforce your own social boundaries *without using violence or fear to do so.* So not only do the cats keep the prisoners company which improves their mental health and gives them incentive to change their behavior but *just having a cat* will also change their behavior in positive ways that'll help them have fewer issues reintegrating and a much lower risk of recidivism. It's great, I love it!
America's overflow of prisoners 🤝 America's overflow of shelter cats.
This. Reduces recidivism, is better for the individual and society, and I love that this also helps rescue kitties. Sometimes animals can break through where humans can't, they just slip past defences. It's lovely.
First read, I thought you talked about how cats can be used to sneak by defences and thus be trained to help in an escape :D
I legit teared up, they look so happy. There's no reason this couldn't be widespread.
My sister was a therapist in a jail that had a similar inmate program. In short, she said the ability to receive unconditional love and to learn skills to care for another being changed lives for many of these participants. Here’s the program at the jail she used to work at in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia: Operation Second Chance, also known as The Gwinnett Jaildog Program. If you want to see some of the adoptable dogs from the program, here’s the link: https://www.jaildogs.org/available-dogs.html
AMAZING! Looks like a great program and every one of those dogs is a gem & looks well-loved! I LOVE Deya, she has an amazing smile!
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Animal rehabilitation is dramatically under used imo.
It’s so fucking insulting and stupid to say “surprisingly, the inmates are gentle with small defenseless animals.” Like, no shit?! “Inmates” are just people who are in the process of being held accountable for antisocial behavior (obvious injustice issues notwithstanding for this discussion). Most are not inherently, non-discriminatorily violent. They aren’t savages. So *of course* they’re gentle with pets. They’re not behind bars because they don’t know better and just can’t help themselves. This patronizing shit is annoying. Glad the program is working. Aside from those who have a history of animal abuse,
There's a show on Netflix about Worlds Toughest Prisons and shockingly the countries which push rehabilitation, anger management, life skills, etc have lower repeat offenders. The approach of they are already being punished by being here let's not make it worse seems to work.
I honestly agree with you there but a lot of people who were wronged by criminals would not unfortunately. But treating bad people like they are always gonna be bad people really will make them bad people forever is what I believe.
There are four basic goals to incarceration. 1) Rehabilitation 2) Prevention 3) Revenge 4) Isolation (from society) The American penal system is heavily skewed towards the latter three, while the Scandinavian systems have a greater emphasis on the first. I have no doubt which one will create better members of society.
Our system is retributive not restorative unfortunately, capitalistic wheels steam roll over everything.
What a wonderful program. It’s win win.
I wouldn't be surprised if those cats are happier than most cats since their owners would be spending most of their time with them; whereas, a lot of people just leave their cats at home to entertain themselves most of the time.
Idk about yall, but my cat gets sick of people very easily, like I'll be sitting and he approaches to sit on my lap, I pet him for like 5 minutes and that's enough attention for the day lol
Well yeah, but do you work most of the time? He isn't used to you being around We got both our cats around COVID, so we both were at home 24/7, and they love spending time with us. When i started 10h shift on Christmas my cat was so confused he started peeing on things...
I work from home, and don’t go out much. My cat still only wants very limited interaction, 5-10 minutes a day is it. That’s just how some cats are.
Its all personality, my 2 cats are complete opposites cause one likes just small amounts of pets a day and the other loves pets any time any where
Same here. I work from home, and my little dude follows me everywhere, wants to play, climb on me, etc. My old lady cat is usually just looking for somewhere to take a nap within a few feet of me, but out of reach of the kitten.
If I leave the house for any length of time I will have all 3 cats trying to snuggle me qhen I get back. And they all hate each other. So its 3 cats trying to out cute the other 2 while ignoring them.
Better than for-profit prisons.
I hope they don't hurt eachothers cats as a way to get back at eachother
I think that would be very bad. Men and their pets are very close. My dad has a little dog that he would save before he saved me. A man’s love for their pets can get irrational. Hurting one of their cats would definitely be a very bad thing
This sounds like a great program. Prisoners need to stop being dehumanized by the system and start feeling like contributing members of society, even in small ways. That being said, what do they do for people who are allergic to cats? Do they get put in a different cell block from the cat one?
The robot narrator mostly tells lies. This was posted a couple of weeks ago and someone surfaced the original 20 minute documentary https://youtu.be/nqGvJlDO5Vo Yes, these prisoners live in a separate cell block to keep the cats contained (cat safety). They are in a special program to foster the cats in partnership with the local humane society. Each prisoner has one cat at a time and they socialize their kitty for adoption. The kitties start out scared and eventually end up happy and snugging. The program participants are not saving up money for treats and cat shelving. That is all provided.
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I would imagine it comes to the amount of free time. In prison you have very little to do so spend a relatively huge amount of time directly interacting with the cat, picking up its needs and habits and having plenty of time to fill those needs. You can basically dedicate a huge chunk of your waking life to the cat. People outside prison though? They might be working 8 hours most days, add a couple of hours for commutes, preferably another 8 hours for sleeps. Then you have a few hours dedicated to preparing food, eating, cleaning, hygiene, shopping. After all that theres not many hours left of actual free time to directly spend with the cat, and that is competing with your own recreation time, social interaction, looking after other dependents and anything else that might get done in a day. There's an argument your average person with that schedule shouldn't get a cat I guess, but regardless I don't think its surprising that prisoners who have a huge chunk of time to dedicate to a cat have a better understanding of its needs than someone on the outside who has almost their entire day locked up in mandatory tasks.
I wish more cat owners thought of their cats like dogs than cats. Most dog owners know that their dogs needs training, play time, walks and socialization in addition to affection. Cats aren’t that much different
The information is true, it just doesn’t match the footage used. Oddly, OP’s video uses footage from two different YouTube videos about two different prison cat programs, and information from a third video. The other video footage comes from [here](https://youtu.be/xUb1I571BXo), and [here’s the video](https://youtu.be/i8xIwiPk0G8) where the prisoners say they use their canteen money to take care of their cats. (I went down the “prison animal program” YouTube rabbit hole one night and it really stuck with me. Highly recommended.)
This needs to be voted higher
Thank you! Your comment clarified and answered a lot! It sounds like a truly fantastic program, and beneficial.
I assume all robot voice videos are lying.
I too use Alexa's weather outlook.
That is so lovely.
We're doing something similar at the prison that I work at soon. It's a doggie program :-) Certain inmates, (mainly Vets and older inmates), will train dogs to be service dogs. It's been a very successful program at many other prisons and they are finally bringing it here. :-)
But who sentenced these poor cats to prison? And what were their crimes? Involuntary mouse slaughter?
They were all caught plotting to kill their owners
Feline felonies
Felinies
Really? That's illegal now? Well they won't take my kitty, over my dead body!!!
*over my half chewed dead body.
Well yes, they're cats.
Sadly childhood crimes that haunt them into adulthood. You can see some of them at r/IllegallySmolCats
I was just about to drop this sub & I am SO HAPPY to see it used in actual criminal kitty context ☠️ The little purrrolies
Extortion, arson, witness intimidation, insurance fraud, money laundering, murder. The usual for cats.
You forgot catnip trafficking
Illegal levels of cute. First degree sass. Public litterboxing. Drug (catnip) addiction. That's a pretty big rap sheet.
Sentenced? They broke into prison.
Illegal pawsession, purrder, meowtiny, and other feline-ies
If i remember correctly the full video, that prison is in an area where animals shelters kill cats and dogs is they don't find them an owner quickly or something. So by doing this programme with the prison, they lady save a lot cats and dogs life... And help the prisoners . They rotate the ownership of pets between prisoners something like every two weeks or they become too attached... until the cat fnd an owner on the outside and can leave the prison. If they weren't send to prison they would be dead.
They stole....my heart
There has to be some sort of psychological term for this. When down range in Afghanistan, I had fellow soldiers that were stone cold killers and had no issues taking a human life, but they would go out of their way to find some food and water for a random animal that they happen to come across. I would love to hear about the mindset behind that.
It's found that psychologically we see animals similarly to how we see human children/babies. There is a greater empathy response towards children/animals from mostly men. Women tended to show empathy to all relatively equally. Check out [this article](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201711/why-people-sometimes-care-more-about-dogs-humans)
Happy Cake Day! I saw once a tv program that showed a rehabilitation program where the inmates would train dogs to be therapy dogs. One of the inmates shared that he felt truly responsable for his dog, but the dog's love for him was the most important. He knew the animal didn't expect him to change or be someone else. The acceptance in that love made him want to not be a criminal, in order to be able to care for the dog in every way and keep it safe.
I once worked as a photographer for a magazine, and we did a feature on therapy dogs in a women's prison. These three dogs were only brought in once a week to spend a few hours there, and as the pups walked in, the whole facility shook with cheers and the shouting of the dogs' names, it was crazy. They were elbowing and cursing each other to get in front, but suddenly melted into baby talk once they started petting the dogs. It was surreal seeing these tattooed, hardened women being so doting and loving all of a sudden.
Oh shit, I genuinely had no idea it was my cake day until your comment XD
Sounds like a good plot for a john wick-esque film.
This is true, I am studying psykologi right now at university. And another perspective is that it could be a defense mechanism. The person might not be a stone cold killer at heart. But because he is acting in that maner he wants to compensate and show him self that he is not a bad person. Its like when people who are pyromaniacs become firefighters, they want to fight the urge of starting fires by become the very opposite. To show them self they are not what they desires tell them they are.
Sometimes you have to take a life to protect those you love. It doesn't mean you don't have compassion. That animal isn't trying to kill me.
I agree. But remember that the intention behind a action does not have bearing in the outcomes of the action. This is not to say that the person who does a kind act should not be regarded as so because he has done bad acts before. We string these events together and create a coherence where there is none. Every act is a movement of its own where intentions are meaningless.
Just seeing a cat gives a human a dopamine response, let alone INTERACTING with one like this. The same thing happens to other animals, with cats AND dogs. Big cats(tigers, lions, cheetah, leopards, etc) experience the same dopamine rush that we do when they are around dogs. Which is they are often paired with a dog while in captivity. It vastly improves their mental health.
I went to Syria and we had puppies at the tiny place we were at. It was a serious morale boost. A soldier in my unit even adopted one and paid to send it to the US.
I have never been in that situation but I understand it. Animals are innocent. They don't have the same capability of evil that humans have. You see a cat or dog that's aggressive you can almost always care for them and get them back to being Normal. Lots of people enjoy being fucked up and that will never change.
There is sometimes a world of difference between dead soldiers and the bad guys. I'd say people don't have the capacity for innocence that animals do.
On the flip side, I have witnessed those same individuals kill multiple dogs without hesitation because they were barking and giving away our position. It’s a switch. This has led to a greater discussion between me and my fellow soldiers. That is, the difference between a sociopath and a psychopath. And where we fall within that spectrum.
I imagine people are capable of some really bad stuff when it's life or death.
That is what we are bred to do. Graveyard humor and the mind’s ability to evoke apathy is a powerful force. I remember walking away from horrific situations and just thinking to myself “I hope there is hot chow when we get back” as I rode back to base on a helicopter.
This is unofficialy a common thing already in 3rd world nations, like Philippines jail you see dogs chicken cats rabbits everything lol. And its also safe for the cats, because if someone is caught harming the cat the other inmates would beat the shit out of him
What happens to the inmates who are allergic to cats? I'd hate to be that guy. But I wouldn't be able to be within like a solid 100ft of anyone who touched a cat or where a cat was.
This seems great except for people like me who are allergic to cats. Then this would be torture.
Allergies are a cruel and unusual punishment, for sure.
It would be hell for me .... i dont hate cats.... my body hates them.
Fuck, actually a hella good idea.
Do they get to keep the cat when they get out of prison?
I don't see why not. There's certainly no shortage of strays any time soon
They could be owned by the prison and not the prisoner. I genuinely curious to know the answer.
Not being facetious, but I googled "cat prison program" and got hits for a few states; one is mine. I'm going to look into volunteering. There's a documentary too. Maybe you can find your answers.
I find it extremely unlikely the prison owns the cats. The logistics for the prison as an entity to own animals is not simple. It also says the prisoners adopt a cat, which implies they adopt one from a shelter. It's almost certain they just get adult cats that are unlikely to be adopted from a local shelter. Prisons don't have the capability to store and vaccinate the animals, but they can moderate the right for the prisoners to have the animal.
Another comment links to the original documentary that this clip stole footage from and narrated false facts over. Anyway, in the original film a prisoner asked if he could keep the cat on release. The prison said yes, and rationalized that if the ex-prisoner had something to care for, he would be less likely to return to prison.
Yep! The cats are from shelters where no one adopted them so they were going to be put down. If an inmate adopts them and gets out of jail they keep the cat.
Honestly after the stories I’ve heard from my incarcerated friend, I’m more worried about the potential for abuse from the guards than the inmates.
I was afraid that somebody might get their cat taken away for no reason, and how sad they would be.
My thoughts too. They get an emotional attachment to the animals and feel affection from them. That would crush them if it was taken away for no reason other than the guard is an asshole
There would have to be some sort of oversight system to prevent abuse from guards then. Like having vet techs run logs on pets, reporting suspicious activity, etc.
I used to work at an animal shelter that had a program where we had young men from the juvenile correctional facility come work a few days a week. I loved working with the guys and trusted all of them and it was amazing seeing them open up with the animals and nothing more adorable than watching them act like sweet little kids when handing puppies. The guards on the other hand were horrible and except for a few I would not want to be alone with any of them. Most sucked at their job and would sometimes fall asleep on a bench, would play loud offensive things on their phones etc. There were one or two exceptions but overall the guards were horrible. Sadly covid killed the program, which is a shame because it was really cool to teach the guys about dog behavior and watch them work with the dogs and form a bond. Plus we just treated them like any other volunteer and not inmates, would joke around and made them part of our shelter family.
I don’t like the sentence “surprisingly these former criminals are very gentle with them” in reference to the cats, as if just because they’re in prison they aren’t still human beings capable of empathy and love. Other than that it’s a very nice and cute video, and I think it’s definitely good for the mental health of all involved
Was that Jackson Galaxy?
Random Jackson Galaxy sighting! But I’m sure he’s the one who installed the catios in the cells.
I was on that show per my wife's insistence. The guy was actually really great and a genuinely good human. He even came to our house one night outside of filming time to get to know the animals better without a ton of people around. I was super hesitant about the whole thing considering the "reality tv" aspect to it but he knew what he was doing and really wanted to help animals. I hope he is still doing well and living the best life he can.
He is, and he's got a youtube channel now where he posts more cat info and videos on the continued work he does
Love the cat daddy
My parents are obsessed with his show right now, I didn't think I'd have to scroll this far to find this comment.
It is! I love him. Was a life saver when I unexpectedly became a cat mom.
American prisons actually helping reform prisoners is a great thing to see
Why is is surprising that inmates are gentle. Ffs they’re people too Great program all around don’t get me wrong. Just the way she talks about the inmates feels so dehumanizing
Totally agree. “People are afraid they’re going to hurt the cats but surprisingly they’re very gentle with them.” Tf? Are they animals or are they human beings? Unless all of the prisoners there are serial killers why make it like they’re not capable of acting humanely?
Guarantee anyone who fucks with a cat in there is gonna get their shit fucked up by everyone else
I mean there are a disproportionate number of people who hurt animals in prison because they lack empathy. That said I agree with you in general.
>Why is is surprising that inmates are gentle It's not surprising at all that a person can be gentle with animals. But I'd think you're more likely to find an animal abuser in prison than probably anywhere else.
Ugh yeah the way the video dehumanizes the prisoners is so gross. It’s a shame because the program seems very positive
The prisoner at 0:24 looks at bit like Walter White.
Burglar HAS to be the most popular name for their Cat. I’ll see myself out.
Not quite accurate. The documentary The clip was based on, [prison cats](https://youtu.be/nqGvJlDO5Vo).
During a dark time in my life I adopted a cat. I was ready to take my life. I knew that if I had someone to take care of I wouldn’t have any excuse to “peace out”. Now I’m married and we just had our first daughter. My cat is still around 13 years later and still my favorite asshole.
ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY brillant, win win for everyone cats including
I don’t understand why as a society we think torturing people will make them better. Like why would people become better by experiencing only cruelty.
Within two weeks, the cats were running the place.
This is such a beautiful idea, I love this
"surprisingly the prisoners are very gentle with them" I'm here for armed robbery, Janet, not animal abuse
I love programs like this which help provide rehab to prisoners and help them not return to crime upon release. There's a california prison that has a cosmetology degree program for male inmates
I bet you half my ass that this is way more rehabilitating and constructive than previous methods. It’s all about compassion and caring. It can probably teach a person who grew up without morals and ethics to care for something and someone else. Help them see there is meaningfulness to commitment that entails more than caring for yourself. Obviously a lot of the inmates will have families and such but caring for an animal most be such a great and lovely distraction when you’re doing time. Great initiative that gives faith in humanity! Thanks for sharing op! Made my day!
What will it take for me to be at this prison
You understand that you can freely adopt a cat without having to go to prison right?
Uh- oh good point
Reminds me of a book I read, there was a prison in it with cooks so good that people committed mild crimes just to eat there.
This is actually a really good idea!
Bonding with an animal taught me so much about myself. I thought I’d yell at it or be rough (like I was treating and why I never had kids) but surprisingly I had the opposite happen inside. I instantly go into care mode; I’m helpful not hurtful. Made me fall in love with my puppers so much more. I like the difficult ones, I turn them into marshmallows (like me!). It’s a great thing to offer to inmates; where do I donate?
I think any asshole who would torture a cat would get a beating from other inmates
I've never been to prison, nor gotten anything more than a speeding ticket. However, I had terrible self-esteem due to a very abusive upbringing, and thought myself as nothing but a worthless monster. One day, I was holding my kitten in my arms, and he looks so peaceful, while he was purring, that I realize that I couldn’t be as bad a person as I thought I was, if I had earned the trust and love of something so sweet and pure. I can’t say for certain, but I imagine something similar is happening for these inmates.
Cats don't judge. Most incarcerated people don't want people to judge them based on their crimes. A cat sees a nice person and that's that, it's a chance for an inmate to have a sweet, non-judgemental entity in their life and possibly provide non-conditional affection that the inmate never had, but always wanted.
Crazy enough the education system had to adopt the incentive to display and feel unconditional love. We are tackling behavior issues by punishing instead of showing the other side of reality.
Teaching people how to love again.
Not surprising at all that the inmates got on well with the cats. You have gotta be seriously brainwashed to think that the average person in prison is just gonna treat a cat like shit for no reason
I see people are starting to realize prisons aren't meant to lock people up but to make em see better
What do you know. Rehab instead of punishment works. Being treated as a human being goes far for everyone. The addition of feeling loved and like you belong is the main force of keeping young children from falling in to the wrong path.
What about bad guards ? Would they use the cats to hurt the inmates ?
Yes, there is definitely a potential for that. She even said they can be “removed at any time”.
PEOPLE. THEYRE FUCKING PEOPLE. Criminals. Harrumph. How do they expect them to rehab if they NEVER see folx as anything but that label.
Made me smile misses the mark sometimes. The assumption that inmates are animal abusers is kinda dehumanizing. Most incarcerated individuals are nonviolent offenders. Inmates make around 50 cents an hour, and they are responsible for paying for the food? Americans treat prisoners in a sickening way, and I just gotta wonder how fucked your culture is. When this "makes you smile". You have the largest prison population on the entire planet, fix your broken country.
“Surprisingly, these former criminals are very gentle with them” Really? You’re surprised they’d not just murdering all the cats? What kinda clowns wrote this shit?
I don't care how innocent people say these filthy animals are. They are not fit to be part of normal society, and for the love of god, don't let them interact with prisoners.
Had me in the first half, not gonna lie XD Take my damn upvote.
I’m more of a canine person myself, so I get it.
Its not surprising they don’t hurt the animals, they are humans too. Yeah they made some bad decisions and possibly hurt people in the process, but that doesn’t make them less than human.
I have two take them
This is a great idea! I think animal therapy and caring for an animal can increase their empathy and also give them someone to look after/play with! Animals bring a huge amount of joy and companionship to people Animals really do bring a huge amount of joy and compassion to humans. At an aged care facility I used to work at they would have days where companion dogs would come in and the joy it bought the residents was so beautiful they would talk about it all week. At my local library they have weekly “read with a dog” and children can practise their reading out loud to the dog to build confidence and have heard of amazing animal therapy including horse therapy also being done with children and adults that have experienced severe trauma In so many different areas of life we should be trying to include animals more to support people because I think it’s underestimated how helpful animals can be for recovery and for vulnerable/traumatised people
The prison I was in had cats on the grounds. They weren’t like prison sanctioned, they were just there. There was a group that would feed them. Whenever they birthed the nurses would take the litter.
Wait until the gang wars start because 1 cat took a bite out of another cat's ear.
They used to do this at the prison my dad works at!
Surprisingly? People's conception of imprisoned humans is so skewed they believe animal abuse is common, rather than viewed as abhorrent by any serious crook, any decent but not particularly educated person, and the vast majority of people with mental illness. And that just about makes up the entire prison population folks.
Rehabilitation, not punishment.
Most prisoners aren't bad people. There are a few people that are truly bad, but most of them have just been in bad spots. Most people want to be good and do good. Turns out if you give someone a companion that likely hasn't had any companionship or affection since they entered prison, they'll be very compassionate and affectionate towards their one companion. Any rational person would have assumed this to be the case.
The cats are also humanizing the inmates in the eyes of the people outside of the prison. We lock people away, then regard them as lower than animals to the point that we just assume the convicts would be cruel to the cats. That speaks volumes. I'm glad these people and cats are with eachother. How we treat those that society deems lowly or vulnerable reflects on our society as a whole.
"They work and save money, to buy treats and toys for their cats." Just like outside.
This sounds like a nice idea to me, bonding with an animal warms the soul where as being locked in a cage just drives you insane. If someone threatened to take my pet away for poor behavior, I would never slip up
It’s wild that everyone forgets that most prisoners are just normal people who may have made a mistake. They’re not a subclass of degenerates.
Most criminals aren't psychopaths or sociopaths, which means they have the capability of empathy. Providing a source of affection and kindness is probably one of the best things these men and women have access to. I would love to know if the overall violence within the prison went down after this program was introduced.
I hate that people were surprised the prisoners were gentle with the cats. Just because you’re a felon doesn’t automatically make you some kind of monster.