Gwinnett jail to house rescued dogs

By Patrick Fox

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With a sharp decline in inmate population over the past month, Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway plans to devote a portion of the county jail to save dogs' lives.

The jail will serve as a foster home for the Society of Humane Friends, a licensed pet rescue agency.

With six open housing units that can accommodate up to 72 inmates, the sheriff is devoting one ground unit to the program. He will assign a dog to each of the 10 inmates in the unit.

The dogs will have access to a fenced grassy area for exercise, Conway said, and trainers will come in to work with the inmates on grooming and training the animals. The program will begin as soon as he puts up the fence.

"These dogs will be the dogs that would have been put down," Conway said. "They will be saved at the last minute."

The Gwinnett County Animal Shelter is at full capacity, said director Lt. Mary Lou Respess. It stays that way.

In 2008, the shelter euthanized 7,434 animals, and numbers are running a little higher in 2009, Respess said. The shelter takes in 20-25 animals a day, so the sheriff's program is appreciated, she said.

"Any one animal that gets a life is a help," Respess said.

Gail La Berge, chairwoman of the county's animal advisory council, likes the idea.

"I think it sounds great," she said.

Ten dogs is not that big of a deal in terms of jail space, Conway said, adding that he is keeping 20 rescued dogs at his home.

No county money will be spent, and the Society of Humane Friends has already agreed to donate food and veterinary care, he said.

"I'm committed to either paying for it out of my pocket or through donations," Conway said. "This is great for the inmates. It will socialize the inmates as well as the dogs."

Dennis Kronenfeld, president of the local chapter of the Society of Humane Friends, said the program is already in correctional facilities in 17 states.

He read of one case in which a convicted murderer adopted a puppy as a cellmate. Within a week, he said, the coldest, nastiest prisoners on the cell block ended up on the floor playing with the puppy.

"Now, when a dog has that kind of influence on these people, you know that it's a program worth pursuing," Kronenfeld said.