In May 2016, the D. Ray James Correctional Facility began a partnership with Pit Sisters, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to ensure shelter dogs, at risk for euthanasia, can receive the training and socialization skills to be placed in forever homes. The program offered is referred to as Teaching Animals and Inmate Life Skills (TAILS).
Each TAILS dog is assigned to selected volunteer inmate trainers and once matched, inmates are fully responsible for the dog’s care, which include grooming, housebreaking and obedience training. Unit Manager Anna Tate and her Unit Staff, Counselor Josh Harden and Secretary Ann Santini, supervise the program and coordinate all activities and interactions with Pit Sisters. The initial TAILS graduation was held on September 24, 2016, and we are proud and happy to report all four dogs have been adopted into forever loving homes. The success of the program is such that shelter deaths are down 95% since the TAILS program began 12 years ago.
