Championing Prison Reform and Animal Welfare Initiatives One Pup at a Time

A photo of a person’s boots and a dog’s paws sitting side-by-side on the steps. Photo provided by New Leash on Life USA.

The complex issue of overcrowded shelters in Philadelphia calls for several creative solutions with the help of do-gooders. While adoption, fostering, and volunteering are undoubtedly important, alternative routes have proven effective in mitigating overcrowding in shelters.

I had the honor of speaking with Jane Bridwell, Director of Development at New Leash on Life USA. This non-profit organization meets the cross-section of animal welfare and prison reform by establishing dog training programs in local prisons. The organization selects a cohort of rescued dogs to live in the prison with their incarcerated caretakers 24/7, who engage in individualized training skill curriculums. While the caretakers provide training to the dogs, these individuals are also receiving life and emotional management skill workshops, educational opportunities, and paid internships with a shelter or rescue. Each cohort cycle ends with preparing the dogs for eventual adoption– all while promoting a healing, rehabilitative experience that the prison system often lacks.

“It’s a win for the participants involved, it’s a win for the dogs, and it’s a win for the community,” Bridwell explains. For the people at New Leash on Life, it’s really important to them to help the communities they've chosen. That’s why they work closely with ACCT Philly, a chronically overcrowded and underfunded shelter, to save dogs that need them.

“Unfortunately, because [ACCT Philly] serves as open intake, they sometimes have to euthanize for space,” Bridwell adds. When selection day comes, New Leash on Life members visit ACCT Philly to focus on “the dogs who really need us.” The factors in their choice of dogs often depend on which ones are scheduled to be euthanized, which ones have been there for a while, or any dog they “just know is not likely to be adopted.”

New Leash on Life’s “class cohorts” are primarily made up of big dogs, such as pit bulls and boxers. Between backyard breeding and stigmas against behavioral issues in these breeds, big dogs often suffer the most in shelters. In addition, Bridwell mentions dogs with black-colored coats “also face prejudice, which is really crazy to think about.” These societal factors play a significant role in who New Leash on Life decides to train and, ultimately, save.

The process that makes New Leash on Life’s adoption rates so high and recidivism rates so low is its commitment to individualized practices for the person and the dog. Though operationally small, its organization achieves “really great results” because of its focus on the human-animal bond. New Leash on Life is “definitely a replicable model,” and it "certainly loves to be part of that solution” in lessening the burden on ACCT Philly shelters.

As New Leash on Life expands to SCI (State Correctional Institution) Chester and areas in Delaware County, they’ll work with the surrounding local shelters. With the growth of their organization, one has to wonder how many dogs could be saved if we had more programs like this in surrounding Pennsylvania prison systems. Seeing the impact of New Leash on Life transforming the lives of people and dogs alike sparks a hope that perhaps this is a beneficial solution to animal welfare and prison reform on a larger scale.

“It’s really a powerful piece of hope that this dog, who would not have made it or was deemed to be of no value, now has a new life as a loving family member,” Bridwell said. It’s these results that give the program its credibility, the incarcerated individuals hope, and the dogs a fresh start.