The Herald Bulletin - Stray cat strut: Felines part of prison program

Tue, Nov 24 2009

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Robin Schlusser pets Sox at the Correctional Industrial Facility Tuesday in Pendleton. Schlusser is one of six inmates taking part in the Correctional Industrial Facility's new program that partners well-behaved offenders with homeless cats in an attempt to enrich the lives of both.
Don Knight / The Herald Bulletin

A new arrival at the Pendleton Correctional Industrial Facility peers out from his carpet covered home as he adjusts to his new environment. Inmates at the facility work with homeless cats from Anderson's Animal Care and Control.
Don Knight / The Herald Bulletin

Each cat's name and number is listed on a chalk board at the Pendleton Correctional Industrial Facility. Inmates care for 59 cats from Anderson's Animal Care and Control.
Don Knight / The Herald Bulletin

Stray cat strut: Felines part of prison program

By Brandi Watters, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

Schlusser is covered in tattoos and has spent much of his adult life behind bars, but in the cat rooms, he transforms into a caregiver, and boasts that other inmates are jealous of his job. “It’s fun. It’s more freedom ... and I get to play.”

So far, two cats in the program have been adopted by staff at the correctional industrial facility.

CIF Superintendent Tom Hanlon said he approved the cat program based on the success of the FIDO program.

“It’s popular with the inmates,” Hanlon said. “It’s popular with the staff. Everyone has invested themselves in it mightily.”

This is not the first time cats have been allowed into prisons.

Horan said Michigan City’s prison has a program that actually allows inmates to adopt cats and keep them in their cells.

There is talk about allowing some homeless pets into the cells of offenders caring for them, he said, but the facility first wants to make sure the pilot program is a success.

“I would have never ever have conceived of a program like this or FIDO,” Hanlon admitted.

Although the program has helped to ease space issues at the city shelter, Stringer said she and her staff are fighting an uphill battle. “We are receiving 20 to 50 animals a day.”

For every animal adopted from the prison pet program, another is taken from the shelter and put into its place, she said. “It saves two lives at once.”

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