What are "Jail Dogs"?

Operation Second Chance, or Jail Dogs, started in February 2010 as a partnership between Sheriff Butch Conway and the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department and Society of Humane Friends of Georgia. The program saves dogs from Gwinnett County Animal Control, vets and trains them, and offers them for adoption. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first program of its kind in a jail. Most programs like this are in prisons, where the inmates are there for a long-term, known period of time. Inmates at Gwinnett's Detention Center are there often for short periods of time, with much inmate turnover on unit, which offers some unique challenges and opportunities. The Sheriff and his staff provide the unit and supervision, screen and select inmates for the unit, and welcome potential adopters into the unit to visit or adopt dogs. SOHFGA provides all financial support for the program (no taxpayer dollars are spent), selects the dogs, handles the application and screening process for potential adopters, and supports the volunteer efforts by the trainers and others.

Started initially with five dogs pulled from the euthanasia line at Gwinnett County Animal Control, Jail Dogs now houses over fifteen dogs at a time. Upon arrival at the unit, each dog is assigned a primary inmate handler, in whose room the dog sleeps, plus either one or two secondary handlers. This not only gives more inmates access to dogs and ability to learn handling skills, but also provides continuity for the dog should one of its handlers leave the unit. Trainers visit with the dogs and inmates three times a week, teaching the inmates how to train and care for the dogs. Basic obedience, tricks, and agility are all taught to the dogs and many have become quite adept! We also have groomers, vet techs, and other animal welfare volunteers and professionals visit the unit to educate the inmates on different issues surrounding the dogs, their care, and ways to reduce pet overpopulation.

Since the program's founding, over 400 dogs have been rescued, vetted, trained, and adopted into new families. In addition to saving dogs, we're also benefiting the inmates, giving them new skills in dog training and handling, as well as learning to care for something other than themselves and the knowledge that they have made a positive difference in a dog's life.

We are grateful for the positive feedback we have received from our inmate handlers and their families. We received this gracious letter from the mother of one of our handlers:

I want to express my respect and adoration for the wonderful aspects of this Jail Dogs program. I would like to thank all the volunteers and the Sheriff's Department for their dedication to this program. This is a "win-win" situation for everyone involved. As a parent of an inmate, I find peace and comfort knowing my son has had the opportunity to be chosen and to benefit from participating. I would hope this model program is enacted in many states.

In October 2013, we added cats to the program! The cats are being housed with female inmates in a separate unit.

If you are interested in bringing Jail Dogs to your community, you can find information and presentation materials here. If you need further information, or would like to speak with someone, please email us at jaildogs@gmail.com.

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Click here to visit Society of Humane Friends' main webpage.