WilCo animal shelter launches unique foster program with Bartlett prison

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - A first-of-its-kind program offers a unique partnership with a WilCo animal shelter and a prison. 

The goal is to solve two problems simultaneously: overcrowding in the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter and inmate rehabilitation.

Leashing Hope program

What they're saying:

An empty kennel is hard to come by at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter.

"We are far beyond our maximum capacity," said April Peiffer, the community programs coordinator at the Williamson County shelter.

She said the shelter has been in desperate need of adopters and fosters for years.

But starting last week, a unique set of foster parents decided to step up to the call.

"Not only will this program be super-beneficial for the dogs because the men they’re paired up with will be training them with great obedience skills, which will make them more adoptable, but they are also creating space here in the shelter, and that’s an enormous need for us here," said Peiffer.

Michael Poling is one of those fosters.

"We’ve taught her her name this week," said Poling. "We’ve taught her sit, and down and a couple of other small things like drop the ball."

He's also an inmate at the Bartlett Innovation Unit.

"It’s helping me tremendously to come out of just being stagnant in this place. You know, I feel like I'm able to give back, and it’s very helpful," said Poling.

Eight inmates, all veterans, will spend the next few weeks training dogs from the Williamson County Shelter. Right now, there are four dogs in the prison, but they are expecting the program to grow.

"It’s giving them something to care for other than themselves, right?" said Amanda Hernandez, the director of communications for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "Being able to kind of develop those skills and really have that with the animal, but also teaching grooming skills. That’s something that could apply to a job outside."

It’s part of a program called Leashing Hope, one of the many ways the now former Bartlett State Jail is rebranding itself into an innovation unit.

"We’ve been doing one way for so long, and I’m not saying that it hasn’t been working, just enforcing it and ensuring that we are successful in different avenues and different ways of doing things," said Assistant Warden Michael Voyles.

The jail closed in 2017 due to a decline in inmates, but as of this fall, it reopened with about 850 people.

"Public safety is through rehabilitation, so at the innovation unit, we have the opportunity to try out new programs to help these men re-enter society successfully," said Hernandez.

If the program works here, it’s something other prisons and shelters could adopt across the state.

"I think this program is going to help every inmate that’s involved with it," said Poling. "I think it’s going to help a lot of families that adopt, and it’s going to connect people outside with the people in here and I mean along with the dogs."

Why you should care:

The Bartlett Innovation Unit will celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon cutting on Friday, March 7.

The Williamson County Regional Shelter has an Amazon wishlist for its pets staying in Bartlett.