For several years now, a prison in Indiana has been accepting rescued cats to rehabilitate prisoners.
Furry friends help reduce anxiety and depression, make people feel less lonely, improve their mood, and even lower their blood pressure. They also do a great job of helping convicted criminals.
In 2015, the Indiana Animal Welfare League launched the F.O.R.W.A.R.D. program at Pendleton Correctional Institution.
The idea is to take cats from a shelter and place them in a correctional facility, a prison, so that the inmates can take care of them. It also saves the lives of the animals themselves, because many of them would likely be euthanized.
The program quickly showed results: it was beneficial to both the inmates and the animals.
Many cats that end up in the shelter often have a long history of suffering and lack of treatment. Therefore, the cats could not socialize normally with people.
It is more difficult for these four-legged ones to get into a family. They need patient care before they find a permanent family. And this program gives them this love and care.
Prisoners take care of the animals, feed them, clean up after them, cut their hair, and the cats become more socialized and trust people more.
It’s not just cats that benefit from the program. Convicts can learn to care for and be responsible for a living being.
“Convicts have told me that when they got an animal, it was the first time they allowed themselves to care for and love someone,” says Animal Welfare League Director Mali Stringer.
Организация утверждает, что животные учат осужденных, как взаимодействовать в группе без насилия, как использовать ненасильственные методы для решения проблем, а также это дает заключенным бесконечную любовь пушистиков. То, чего многие осужденные никогда не знали.
