Corrections_Today_Winter_2025-2026_Vol.87_No.4

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gave of her life to establish and grow this program who took dogs from shelters, and paired them with inmate handlers, to provide the dogs with the skills where they were adopted by a family in the community. Not that every dog was an immediate match with a family, and some took several times to find there forever home. But what I found consistent is that the young inmates did hot give up on a dog who took three or four visits sometimes to meet the right family. Ms. Dalton, who coordinated thr program for many years built a relational network across Oregon of people she could work with to find possible places to take dogs, to volunteering to gather dog food, and everything in between. The way the dogs were matched wtth families, and families matched dogs. The program truly developed into a reentry unit, where responsibility and accountability became not goals but values. What is really amazing is that the program became a transformational feature where the staff and inmates brought out the best in each other. The recidivism statistics provided that most youth involved in the program succeeded when measuring those who did not return to custody. That is the measure most in positions of power consider the most important,

I think it went far beyond recidivism statistics. When you read of the personal challenges the inmates faced most would have just said, I did the best I could. But the expectations of Ms. Dalton, and the inmates themselves would go far beyond what mere data shows. The transformation of the inmates shows what tough love, care and responsibility can do. The inmates who were assigned to the program experienced something else, It showed when the unconditional love of the dogs and inmates was shared, the world became a little less scary with the fear bravissimo brings changing over time to something special. What is really amazing is that the program became a transformational

inmates had to use to keep the program going. The inmates knew one “screw up” could have bought the dog program, to and end. There is some research on “dog programs and their effectiveness,” discusses the potential impact of a dog training program ib the Italian society. While not a “prison” dog program I opine the end results absent the inmate recidivism and maturation into good citizens, the conclusions would mirror much the same. The conclusions said, we documented the beneficial effects of the training program upon the adoption rate of dogs housed in a southern Italy kennel, in an age-dependent manner, since adult and senior trained dogs were more suitable to be adopted, thus suggesting that, despite the multifactorial issues related to dog adoption, managing in a proper way the dysfunctional aspects experienced by dogs, including excessive aggression, fear and anxiety and abnormal repetitive behaviors, may lay the groundwork to ensure, on one hand, the most suitable life conditions for the hosted dogs and, on the other, a substantial harmonization for human–dog relationships. In this respect, behavioral categorization processes should be taken into account to allow a better dog–human match, preserving

feature where the staff and inmates brought out the best in each other.

The book chronicles Ms. Dalton’s journey in establishing and maintaining the program from two dogs to seventeen dogs inside a prison. The logistics described in having the institution agree to maintain the program demonstrate the persuasion Ms. Dalton and

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