Inmates’ compassion holds a lesson for us all

Editor’s note: This was first published at http://kcpetproject.org/ on March 30.

One of the things I love most about KC Pet Project is how grass-roots we are — I lovingly describe us as “scrappy.” Despite major growth in the first four years, our staff remains grounded and open to ideas, projects and policies. The rule is that nothing in the animal welfare world is set in stone. The same goes for events.

So it came as no surprise that when I received a letter from an inmate requesting a visit from our staff, we jumped at the opportunity. Admittedly, I didn’t realize the handwritten letter I had received from the “European Historical and Cultural Society from Fort Leavenworth” was actually from the prison — I still laugh when I think about having said, “Wow, this is a really nice handwritten letter — why didn’t he just email me?”

My first visit to the United States Disciplinary Barracks was spring 2015. The inmates invite guest speakers to present on things happening on the “outside.” Their liaison, a sergeant who was also their program coordinator, said that they “really, really wanted to have a visit from someone who works with animals.” Upon arrival we were checked in by the security staff and left all items in the car (no selfies in prison, I discovered; no tours, either). We were not allowed to bring any animals but came with a slideshow of photos from our professional photographers — this was a specific request from the inmates and ended up being a huge hit. Literally, a group of 100 men would see a photo and say, “Awww.”

After that visit, the sergeant said that the inmates would be fundraising for us, which was a surprise. Fundraising? How? We weren’t there for any kind of donation but thought it was an incredibly kind gesture. Then we got the check: $2,000. Wow. Two thousand dollars of inmate wages donated to our shelter pets. I was blown away. This is one of those stories that stay with you for life. I would never forget their generosity.

Fast forward to 2016 and we were invited back for a second visit. Needless to say we cleared our schedule. This time, I brought my co-workers Kellie and Kristy from our behavioral staff so that they could give an update on what we’d been working on since we last visited. We went over our behavior and training program developments and talked about stress and behavior and how it affects adoption, and the parallels between dogs in the shelter and people who are incarcerated.

The inmates were definitely on the same page and offered up tons of stories on dogs they had loved before they left for prison, stories about how they rescued their best friend, or took on a dog with behavior issues because they knew what it was like to need help and understanding. It was truly one of the most humanizing experiences of my life. For whatever reason, we were not allowed to bring a slide show (something about technology and security), which was a huge disappointment both for us and for them. We ended up mailing them about 100 prints of our professional pet photos (thank you volunteer photographers — your work is amazing) through snail mail. They were well-received, we were told.

We knew we’d be receiving another donation and were invited back for a pizza party/donation presentation in March. The inmates pool their wages and order food to be brought in about once a quarter, and they were kind enough to feed us as well. How many times in your life can you say you ate pizza with 235 inmates in their dining hall? Then we got our donation check: $4,329. Amazing! I know it’s getting redundant to hear me say “I was blown away” but I was blown away! Several of the men who donated took the visit as an opportunity to say how much they appreciated having prints mailed to them and that our talk about stress/at risk dogs and incarceration deeply resonated with them and compelled them to donate to our cause.

The icing on the cake was the incredible handmade thank you card that the inmates made for us — to us — thanking us for our visit. Many of them said it was an honor to donate to our organization; others thanked us for seeing them as who they are and not who they were. We are truly grateful for their efforts and were given a valuable reminder about kindness and reserving judgment — something we try to espouse daily working with our shelter pets.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Inmates’ compassion holds a lesson for us all."