Canine CellMates, a nonprofit organization, had its first group of seven celebrate their accomplishments during graduation of Phase 1 of Beyond The Bars Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, at the new Canine CellMates facility.

This yearlong program, which launched in September of this year, is one of the first alternative disposition programs in the country using shelter dogs to break the cycle of incarceration.

“The program has been life-changing. It has taught me how to interact, to be disciplined, and to respect people by also respecting the animals,” said Iman, Beyond the Bars participant.

Canine CellMates works together with the district attorney’s office to select participants to participate in this unique program, which utilizes shelter dogs to change the break the cycle of incarceration in metro Atlanta. During Phase 1 of the program, selected participants report to the facility four days a week, and are assigned the responsibility of socializing and obedience training rescue dogs to prepare them for adoption. In addition, the participants are taught valuable workforce and social-emotional skills such as conflict resolution and emotional competence to help facilitate positive change, and break the cycle of incarceration.

Over four hundred men have completed the Canine CellMates program inside Fulton County Jail, and approximately 160 dogs have been adopted into forever homes.

Canine CellMates Executive Director Susan Jacobs-Meadow said at the graduation “We are glad to have reached this stage. The program is an opportunity to give the participants a second chance, and we pair dogs who are less likely to be adopted with men who would have been facing additional jail or prison time. Once the dogs are trained, the dogs are available to be adopted.”

Post-graduation of Phase 1, the participants will continue to participate in the program, working with rescue dogs and sitting in curriculum, gradually stepping down their participation over the subsequent nine months, and will complete the program after a year. When they complete the program, their charges will be dismissed.

Canine CellMates began in 2013 working with the Fulton County Jail to provide the opportunity for positive change for both inmates and rescued shelter dogs. The nonprofit organization recently opened its first building in metro Atlanta, which has allowed the organization to double the number of men that can be impacted and dogs they pull from metro Atlanta shelters.