On a sunny fall morning, seven inmates from the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility escorted their companion dogs to an outdoor recreation pen, enclosed with a fence and barbed wire. The inmates and their dogs were all part of the P.A.W.S. Program with Action Programs for Animals, a progressive animal welfare organization based in Las Cruces. Nora Insurriaga is the manager and liaison of the P.A.W.S Program with APA, and she explained how the program works.
“Action Programs for Animals pulls at-risk dogs, long-term dogs or dogs that are in danger of being euthanized, and we pull them from the shelter after they go through an assessment; and we bring them out to the prison, and the prisoners have been trained by our trainers to teach these dogs basic obedience," she said. "So they have kind of these skills, once they graduate, to kind of integrate into a home better.”
Shawn Merl is an inmate who has been training dogs with the program for nearly five years. His latest companion dog is a Staffodshire Bull Terrier named Mack. Shawn described what Mack was like when he first got him.
“When Mack first came, he has anxiety issues, so he doesn’t do the crate very well, he doesn’t do a lot of things very well like that," Merl said. "So he’s been here for a little while, ‘cause we’re working on anxiety issues. But he had no training at all. He was aggressive towards other dogs, little dogs, all kinds of things. So he’s come a long way.”
And so has Shawn Merl, who described what the P.A.W.S. Program has meant to him personally.
“This program has changed my life in many ways," he said. "It’s taught me responsibility, reminding me that even though in prison, I still have a heart. And it teaches me…I think it’s getting me ready for the outside, because of the responsibility part, you know? I had to get up every day and take care of him, just like you have to get up and take care of things out there in the world. And it teaches me that violence isn’t the answer for everything anymore.”
James Mojarro is another inmate in the P.A.W.S. Program. His companion dog of three weeks is named Ketchup, who he said had been badly mistreated when he first arrived.
“He’s been really abused," said Mojarro. "He’s really, really shy around people. He shivers. When I first got him, he just went into the corner and just shivered. He wouldn’t come to me, he wouldn’t do anything. But we’ve been working with him to make him feel more comfortable around people.”
Mojarro explained how he made Ketchup feel more comfortable.
“Well, you feed ‘em a lot of treats. (Laughs) Yeah, you make ‘em feel safe, you walk him, you build up his confidence, take him to jumps, stuff like that, you know? Just things. And you spend a lot of time with him. He sleeps in my cell, so we get along. He’s come to trust me a lot.”
Inmates spend a lot of time with the dogs to get them properly trained. According to Veronica Bernal Martin, unit manager with the P.A.W.S. program, it’s an all-day job.
“Yes it is," Martin said. "They do sleep with them. They have a kennel that they sleep in, so they’re with them 24 hours. I mean, where the dog gets sick, I mean they (the inmates) are up. It’s like having a baby. Let’s say they eat something they shouldn’t have, or they just got into something, or the food got changed and they have an upset stomach and they’re throwing up…they get up like with a baby and clean up their mess, all night long. It totally gives them a big responsibility about caring for someone else, like caring for a child.
As with Shawn Merl, James Mojarro says he’s learned some positive life lessons through the program.
“It’s taught me a lot of responsibility," said Mojarro. "It’s also kept me from getting in trouble. Like I’ve been this whole time without a single writeup, not even minor, because it teaches you to think before you act, and how your actions have consequences on things around you.”
Denali Wilson is an attorney with the ACLU of New Mexico, who works with prisoners as they prepare for an opportunity for release before a parole board. She says the P.A.W.S. Program has been helpful for her clients in that regard.
“So my work, in assisting people to prepare for parole, it’s about insights," Wilson explained. "It’s about insights into our past actions, right? And the board wants to see that someone has grown and changed. And so, I’ve seen so often people, when they talk about the dog program, and they talk about seeing animals who are traumatized and have been abused and are acting out, that they see themselves reflected in those animals, their younger selves. And it’s through connecting with that animal, and providing the things that they themselves as young people needed and wanted—love and belonging and assurance and companionship—that they’re able to see those changes in animals.”
Wilson said healing and restorative opportunities like P.A.W.S. make our prisons, and the communities where inmates return home to, safer. And in a win-win for the program, the P.A.W.S. dogs trained by the inmates are able to find homes, too.
