www.TheNewBarker.com THE NEW BARKER 47 Jason was released almost two years ago - December 2016. “I'm beating the odds,” he told us.We recently spoke with Jason and his wife Crystal over a cup of coffee, outside Cappuccino’s Cafe andWine Bar in Dunedin.He told us about the dog who helped him change his attitude and turn his life around while still in prison.They were introduced by the TAILS program. TAILS (Teaching Animals and Inmates Life Skills) is a col- laborative effort that brings together prison inmates and hard-to- adopt shelter dogs.Through partnerships with Northeast Florida shelters and the State of Florida Correctional System, dogs are placed in correctional facilities to be trained, socialized and cared for. The program was developed by First Coast No More Homeless Pets, now operated by Pit Sisters, a Jacksonville-based 501c3 organization that finds foster and permanent homes for hard-to-adopt dogs. Members of the Pit Sisters team assess at-risk dogs at the shelters to select candidates for the TAILS program, matching them with inmates signed up for the program. Pit Sisters also provide transport of the dogs to the correctional facilities. “TAILS benefits dogs, trainers, families, prison staff and the entire community,” said Jennifer (Jen) Deane, founder and executive director of Pit Sisters.Sugar Mama had been confiscated in a raid to break up a dog fighting ring and ended up at Putnam County Animal Control. Jason was at the Jacksonville Bridge Community Release Center, a transitional program, when Jen brought Sugar Mama there in April 2016. When Jason first laid eyes on Sugar Mama, and was told her back story, he was filled with a lot of different emotions, all at once. “Here is this dog, with scars and a broken back, recovering from surgery, and she’s smiling and wagging her tail,” said Jason. “I asked myself, why am I so angry? If this dog,with what she’s been through,can be happy, why couldn’t I be happy?” As he sat with Sugar Mama at their first TAILS meeting, Jason also wondered what kind of person could do this to an innocent being? What kind of person could be so cruel and self- ish and intimidating? “Then, I realized that the person I was describing was someone like me.I had been that kind of person.” He breaks down easily at the memories of hurting the peo- ple he loved through his behavior;scaring people - the victims of his crimes.“Just when I think I’m over the tears, every time they come, I’m surprised by them. Prison made my heart calloused and hard. I shut down my emotions and became the kind of man that other men are afraid of.You’re either scared and victimized, or you’re tough. I was dangerous, because I felt that I had need- ed to be.And that’s how I lost myself. Sugar Mama gave me back my humanity. She melted my heart.” The reality is, rehabilitation at the Department of Corrections doesn’t exist. In 2018, the Florida Legislature passed, and Governor Rick Scott signed, an $87 million budget that was $28 million short in prison funding.To close the gap, the Florida Department of Corrections began eliminating programs that pre- pare inmates for their return to the community. One of those recently closed was Bridges of Northeast Florida, the transitional program that Jason was in when he met Sugar Mama,almost two years ago. The goal of the TAILS program is to have the inmates train and socialize the dogs, readying them for adoption to families outside the prison system. That means after the eight-week program of living with and caring for the dogs, they are taken from the inmates, who know this going into the program. Jason knew it. When he finished the program with Sugar Mama, he would have four months left in the transitional program before being released into society. Four months without her.The rest of his life without her if she was adopted by someone else. There have been occasions when an inmate is able to adopt the dog they’ve been paired with in the TAILS program.A family member must be available to take in and foster the dog until the inmate is released from prison.“Jason approached me about adopting Sugar Mama,” Jen told us over the phone. “But, he didn’t have a family to send her to; he didn’t even have a home. He told me he would live under a bridge if it meant keeping her with him. She was that critical to his humanity.” “I had to have her in my life,” said Jason.“She was the first living and breath- ing being I had ever had unconditional love for.And she reciprocated that love.” Jen went to the Community Release Center’s supervisor on Jason’s behalf. “We both saw the changes,not only in Jason,but Sugar Mama.We agreed that without Sugar Mama, Jason would most likely end up back in the prison sys- tem,” said Jen.“We made an exception and let Sugar Mama stay with him until his release, four months later.” What makes theTAILS program unique is that it is not fund- ed by the Department of Corrections.“Our program is the one vehicle that helps the inmates transition. We pair hardworking guys with positive reinforcement training that gives them experi- ence and discipline, making them more employable when they’re released. They receive certificates from the program,” said Jen. “While we’ve seen a decline in recidivism, we’re working with a professor at the University of North Florida who is helping us pull those numbers together and quantify the benefits of the pro- gram.TAILS has been in existence for three years and all of the dogs have been adopted. Zero percent have been returned to the shelter,” said Jen. Success stories include the inmate out of Montgomery Correctional who did so well in the TAILS program that Pit Sisters funded his scholarship for dog training.He’s now a vet tech and working on growing his training business. The TAILS program teaches inmates how to be responsible. “It’s about being part of a team. It’s about showing up when you’re supposed to,” said Jason.“Yes, it’s about getting up at 5am to put food in the dog’s bowl, but that's just the superficial level. It’s a lot deeper than that.” Continued on page 49 g