- Boomer, where are you, Boy?

- Boomer?

- Sometimes the unthinkable happens.

But with the help of Love Lost and its pet image recognition software, you can upload your pet's photo to our national database.

It's open to all.

So whether you lose or find a pet, Love Lost can help reunite families.

At Love Lost we believe pets belong at home with those who love them.

Petco Love Lost.

- Criminal justice reform is an issue I am very passionate about.

There are lots of groups doing great work in prisons throughout the country that are focused on rehabilitation.

And this episode of "Shelter Me" is about some incredible new beginnings.

- Paws up.

all: Paws up.

- Paws For Life K9 Rescue is a unique program where men who are incarcerated train shelter dogs at a maximum security prison in California.

- I'm giving back to the community, and it's something positive.

I'm not creating pain.

I'm creating happiness.

- This program gives both dogs and humans a second chance at finding purpose and meaning in their lives.

- You get to show a love and a happiness that you forgot that existed in you.

- While having dogs in prison is amazing in itself, what's really incredible is that more than 20 participants that were sentenced to life without parole have had their sentences commuted in large part due to the work that they're doing in this program.

- [indistinct command] - It's part of the program of transformation that is now underway in our prisons.

- A little compassion and love can go a long way.

Please enjoy "Shelter Me: Soul Awakened."

[mellow music] [dramatic hip-hop] ♪ - ♪ This is the story of a ♪ - ♪ Who lives, who dies, who tells your story ♪ - ♪ My mind flashes, I see the ashes of the masters ♪ ♪ Who touch the masses ♪ ♪ I ask if I'll ever be one ♪ ♪ When I die, will heaven be done ♪ ♪ What will my legend become ♪ ♪ I will forever be young ♪ ♪ The noise of beat girls and boys ♪ ♪ Building to destroy the perception ♪ ♪ Of urban aggression ♪ ♪ My life is a progression of chords ♪ ♪ From the oppressors, a chorus ♪ ♪ My story is the glory ♪ Of the lord - Over the last ten days, a total of five inmates were killed in different state prisons.

- The bloody violence that broke out Sunday night at a maximum security prison in South Carolina, leaving seven prisoners dead, 17 other seriously injured.

- ♪ Time and time again ♪ ♪ Will they tell your story in the end ♪ ♪ Who lives, who dies, who tells your story ♪ [moody music] ♪ - My name is Alex Tonner.

I'm the president of Paws For Life K9 Rescue.

Paws For Life is a nonprofit dog rescue that runs programs inside of prisons throughout California.

♪ We have three different programs Our new program that we just started is called The Shelter Program.

We take dogs that have been overlooked inside the shelters and offer free training to anyone that adopts, or rescues that dog.

- The shelter program is beneficial.

It gets dogs out of the shelter that have been there a long time and helps relieve the overcrowding for the shelters... and allows more men inside the prison programs to have an opportunity to train dogs.

- This is gonna be the start of a six-week journey for Asher to get trained, so it's an incredible thing.

♪ ♪ - This is a maximum security prison.

Several of the yards are level fours, which is the highest security of any of the prisons-- the most violent, racially-segregated, hate-fueled yards in the entire system.

- The program at Lancaster's been established 5 1/2 years, and we were the first dog program in a maximum security prison within the state of California.

Here we are.

Come on.

- And then facility A is a level three now... [mellow music] ♪ ♪ Which is a medium maximum security prison.

Facility A is a standout.

There's no other yard like it in the state.

The inmates make a commitment on that yard to not participate in gang activity, criminal activity, to use drugs, and they've reached a point in their incarceration that they want to pursue a rehabilitative path.

- Good boy.

Come on.

- Lengthy sentences, most life and life without the possibility of parole.

And of course life without the possibility of parole means just what it says, that you'll never get the opportunity to go home.

[dog barking] [indistinct PA announcement] [mellow music] ♪ ♪ At Lancaster, we have 118 participants training, and we have the capacity for 45 dogs.

We have about 40 dogs right now.

It's the largest dog program in the state of California.

- This isn't a program that just anyone gets into.

We've had guys work their way over.

Some of the yards that these guys come from, they're really rough yards.

- Jensen Ramos is the leader of Paws For Life.

Chris Murray is the leader of the shelter program.

- This is Asher?

- This is Asher.

So, he just spent eight months at South L.A.

Shelter.

- May I say hi to him?

- Yeah.

He's your dog now.

There you go.

- Hi, Asher.

- Yeah.

- Hi, buddy.

- There are hard criminals in prison that probably would not fit into our program.

But there's a lot of men who would benefit from it.

I feel like people who are serving long-term sentences shouldn't just be locked up and throw away the key.

They should be able to rehabilitate themselves.

Choose the right handlers for them.

- Okay.

We will.

- So, yeah.

- We'll just get him acquainted first with this whole environment, let him get sensitized to this whole environment, then we'll go from there.

- Okay.

- I've currently been incarcerated for a little over 17 years.

I've been in Paws For Life for the last five years of my incarceration.

[soft music] So I was actually charged with four counts of attempted murder when I was 17 years old.

When I first came to prison, all I saw was violence and just so much racial segregation.

And I--and I believed that this is how prison was supposed to be.

♪ ♪ And coming--coming here, especially in Paws For Life, it's so different.

Like, there is-- it's the total opposite, where we're here trying to help one another.

I mean, it's his first day here, so let's get him comfortable with what's going on.

This is all new to him.

- I saw the way he dedicated himself as a trainer, and I thought, okay, what a perfect person to mentor to become a leader.

- Jon Grobman took notice of all that hard work.

Like, here is a guy that doesn't really know me and he believes in me, that I can be better than just what I am right now.

And it meant everything.

- He's turned out to be this fantastic, mature, innovative leader who is doing an amazing job running the program.

- Good boy, Asher.

Let's go.

Yeah.

- Chris Murray has been in the program before I have.

He's one of our top coordinators.

We've given him a big responsibility here, where he needs to make sure that this dog is trained in six weeks.

And I believe that there was no other guy than him to be able to do this.

He was the guy for the job.

- I actually started my period of incarceration when I was 17.

I was a juvenile offender that was charged as an adult.

I've been incarcerated for about 13 years.

I was arrested in 2006 and charged with two murders and an attempted murder.

And, you know, I was at that point in my life where I was just really lost, as a teenager, and I made some horrible choices and decisions.

And I impacted two families and the community.

- The thing that I have to keep remembering is that the age they commit the crime is basically the age they stay in for a few years, so, you know, he was young.

He was a teenager.

And he committed a horrific crime.

To when we came into this program, Chris was very cocky and had a lot to say, and, you know, it took him a long time to mature.

And now, he's one of our best leaders.

And I say this with absolute pride that this guy is a leader in the program.

He mentors, he teaches.

He's someone that I truly look up to.

- We have like this mutual understanding and mutual respect that I'm gonna be there for him and he's gonna be there for me, and he takes this very seriously, because when it comes down to it, he loves the dogs as well, and he loves this program.

[indistinct P.A.

announcement] - Hey, buddy.

That's it.

Yes.

That's a good boy.

[indistinct chatter] [background chatter] - Oh, this program-- I've been here for a year.

I love this program, man.

This is the best thing on this yard.

You know, it brings us back to when we were little kids and got to play with dogs.

I ain't seen a dog in almost 23 years.

Sinatra, what would you say, man?

"Let me go.

Let me go play, buddy.

I want to go play."

Is that what you would do?

Look at you.

Yeah.

Man, this is a beautiful dog, though.

- Bo coming in.

So this is Bo.

He's a older Boxer.

He came from the shelter.

We heard that he was there for about eight months.

So, we've added a shelter program to PFL, and what that does is it allows dogs like Bo, who have been overlooked-- they come here for six weeks, and the get that intensive training.

And we nurture them back to health.

We train them.

We give them our love.

And what that does is it gives the family a better chance to have a great addition to their home.

[stirring music] ♪ ♪ - Go sit!

Go sit!

- I've been incarcerated for 31 years, and I think not only the program, this yard has changed my life.

Burt.

Behind.

Yes.

Good boy.

We didn't believe it.

- I mean, dogs in the prison?

I mean, come on.

But when they brought these dogs on and they started walking across this yard, I'm talking about, it caught the whole yard's attention.

I'm talking about they went quiet.

They went silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

So, when we seen that, then we knew it's real.

- Yeah.

I was--I was skeptical at first, about the dogs actually being allowed to come in here.

The dog program gives us something to be proud of in prison.

- We started the program very small, with 5 dogs and 14 inmates.

- We're now up to 119 guys.

So we've come a long way in the 5 1/2 years that we've been here.

- So, I want to thank you, for everybody that's been on that journey with us.

Everybody in this room has contributed to the success of Paws For Life, and so you should give yourselves a big round of applause.

Paws up.

all: Paws up.

[energetic music] ♪ ♪ - Dogs Playing for Life was a group that I saw at the shelter.

After I went for a full week, to see what they were doing, I thought about our program, and I thought about our dogs being on leash 90 percent of the times.

- We had a lot of trepidation before, constantly worried about the dogs getting bit or attacking each other, and it was the exact opposite of what we should have been doing.

- Alex saw us running play groups at the East Valley Animal Shelter, and she wanted to incorporate that with this prison program that she was doing here, and then add our piece to what they were already doing.

- The thing that you guys are different than a normal shelter is you guys are all, like, professional trainers.

You know dogs.

You know dog training really, really well.

Today, our mission is to get all of the dogs out.

We're gonna cycle through them.

Just getting to an idea of what they're like, so that when we get you guys trained in the yard, we'll be able to really plug the dogs into the group, where they're gonna have the most amount of fun, it's gonna be safe, and it's gonna be successful.

- Aimee and her team taught us the best ways to socialize these dogs.

And the impact it's had is huge.

- So we look at size, sex, and stature of the dog that shows up.

We're just trying to get a read on who they are.

- Dogs teach each other.

We couldn't teach them to socialize at all.

You know, just like dogs can't teach us how to socialize.

Just vice-versa.

But they know their-- they know their body languages and stuff like that.

- What we're seeing with Major doesn't seem like he's digging this rough and rowdy play from her.

So he's trying to tell her.

I want him to tell her to slow down.

- The big thing about it, it's dogs just playing.

But at the same time, it's us learning how they play and how we can become better trainers to kind of align our training with their natural behavior.

- A lot of these guys have been waiting for this, you know, and the excitement is giving us a whole new game plan to help and heal these dogs.

[funky guitar] ♪ - Not only will we feel more comfortable with them, we're gonna be able to be more, like, understanding of these dogs.

Overall, it's just to help them become more adoptable.

- Having a group like Dogs Playing for Life be willing to come in here, it just validates the work that we're doing in here.

You know, this is truly a genuine effort from the men that are incarcerated here to not only give back to society but really develop themselves, and it's an opportunity to give affection and love to another living creature.

- This was the missing link of our program.

It's not only just for dogs, but it's for the men that are included in this program.

Right now, we could grow this program to 200 guys and still put more guys in the program.

- Each one of you guys are gonna be in there.

You're an apprentice, you're gonna be a journeyman, and then you'll be the professional in there, so that everybody has the same opportunity to learn this.

We'll give them a big "Paws up."

all: Paws up.

- Think it's easy to put somebody in here and forget about them.

And actually meeting all of these people and getting to hear and learn who they are and how driven they are for this program and this mission, is--it's amazing.

I will never forget them.

- Mm-hmm.

And, I mean, similarly, when we go into shelters sometimes, it's sad that we see-- with all the right intentions of saving lives, we see a whole population of dogs that are in kennels and kind of left there, and not forgotten, but nobody's doing anything for them.

And so I think that that's the biggest thing that's driving home for me.

It's like, we gotta do something.

We can't just warehouse life.

♪ ♪ [moody music] ♪ ♪ - Not only did I help establish and create Paws For Life with Alex, up until last year, I was an inmate here at Lancaster.

I was given a life sentence for embezzlement, forgery, fraud, grand theft, burglary, and possession of meth.

I was sentenced to six life sentences plus 40 years, 190 to life.

The judge had determined that I have no worth to society.

I served 13 1/2 years on my sentence.

11 of those years were here at the Lancaster State Prison.

The last five were in this cell, cell 135.

When you're sentenced to prison, this is your home.

This is--you know, this is where you're relinquished to live.

This facility is more than 90 percent people that are serving life sentences and life without the possibility of parole.

And guys have been on this facility for 25, 30, and 35 years.

Serving time is about deprivation and loss and humility, not being a part of things that are valuable in the real world.

Paws For Life was the best part of my life when I was inside, and it helped me develop into the person that I am today.

I bring hope with me when I come back in, because I had no hope of ever getting out.

Paws For Life was 100 percent instrumental in getting my life sentences overturned.

Scott Budnick, who is the producer of movies like "The Hangover" and "Due Date," is somebody that's a passionate advocate for criminal justice reform, who turned out to be my guardian angel.

Governor Brown was a huge fan of the work we were doing.

Last year, our program had 17 recipients commuted-- people that were sentenced to life and life without the possibility of parole.

And that number is greater than any other program throughout the state.

- I wanted to bring back hope so that people could take control of their life, because they could do something that would have a very significant impact, namely earlier release-- go back to free society.

If that was something that, by their action, their free will, their decision they could bring into their lives, then that was a empowerment that was important to me.

- It's really representative of the power of our program and how it allows people to really grow and become better human beings, and the governor really recognized that.

And in each of the commutations, he made note that the guys were participants in the Paws For Life program.

When I found out that I was likely going home, I was at a Paws For Life graduation.

And it was the first one that my... that my mom and dad had been able to attend.

And I'd also invited Scott.

And I was standing next to my mom when Scott walked through the door and said, "Your commitment was recalled about an hour ago."

I had no idea.

Both my mom and I sobbed and cried.

I have a favorite picture that's that exact moment.

I look at it, you know, every day, and it reminds me I was just really blessed with a miracle to have another opportunity to be home.

- To give a commutation, this is an extraordinary act.

In many of these cases, it was Paws For Life as a factor.

It's part of the program of transformation that is now underway in our prisons.

- Three.

Two.

One.

all: Yeah!

- The inmates are totally different in here.

They enjoy what they're doing.

The dogs bring more to, like, a civilian lifestyle, almost.

Very respectful.

And it's a total different world.

- I've been incarcerated for just over 24 years.

I've been in this program for about a year and a half.

At first, it was hard for me.

It took a while for me to adjust to being confined in a cell.

Because once that door closes and you hear that "click," like, you have no control over when you're coming out.

So that part took me a lot getting used to.

But with me and Chris, like, we're good friends, so it's easy.

You know, you have to be able to work around each other and kind of get to know each other's routine.

I've been doing my time in prison on a structured routine.

Everything is set.

You're going to breakfast at this time.

You're going to yard at this time.

You're going to school at this time.

You're going to work at this time.

[reflective music] ♪ ♪ A lot of people have a misconception about prisoners.

You know, oh, they have all the time in the world.

That may be true, but I fill my time with productivity every single day.

At the end of the day, I'm exhausted.

But for me, it's a sense of freedom, because I get to come out every day and work with these dogs.

[mellow music] ♪ ♪ - Prison had shut me down.

When I first got to prison, I'd just turned 17 years old.

Moose.

Come.

I'm 39 now.

I always have to think about it.

And then I got into the mentality that I can't talk to anybody.

Everybody's a threat.

Everybody's an enemy.

Everybody's looking to get you.

Turn.

Yes.

Good boy.

Jon was still here.

And every single day I was chasing him down.

"Hey Jon, can I get in the program?

I want to be with the dogs."

Everyone I knew on the yard-- "Go talk to Jon.

Tell him to let me into the program."

So I come here with the dogs, and you get to show a love and a happiness that you had forgot that had existed in you.

Yes.

Good boy.

Yes.

Good boy.

- Mike has just joined the team, because one of my other handlers, he went down and became an assistant program leader.

So then Mike's gonna be training with Moose.

And he's doing really well.

- Our mentorship program is inspiring.

- Yes.

Good boy.

- We decided, you know, he's perfect for the service program.

Just his dedication, his work drive.

- Let's go, Moose.

Let's go.

- And his ability to do the happy voice.

Not many people have that about them.

- [high voice] Moose.

What's up, buddy?

Let's go, buddy.

Good boy.

- You come into the program as somebody that's new, and you can instantly feel that somebody believes in you, and that's taking the time, that cares about you.

There's the entire Paws For Life family that has their hand out to you.

All you have to do is show that you want it, and the help is there.

- Sit.

[laughs] [upbeat music] - The training method for incarcerated trainers is Each One, Teach One.

But we started with a professional trainer coming in for two years, and we just all honed our skills, you know, to the level of any other professional trainer.

And then as new participants come in, we create a hierarchy of positions.

And we just continually assign people to mentor each other, and we still bring in professional trainers and do seminars like Dogs Playing for Life.

And then I think the biggest factor is guys gain hands-on experience from doing this.

The turnover rate for the dogs means they're always learning something new from a new dog.

- Doesn't trust me, which is normal, right?

- Yeah, which is normal.

It's okay.

- Come here.

- See where she goes.

Like, see where she goes.

Walk--like, just see where she's trying to go.

It's just the whole support and camaraderie, teaching how to not only be a better trainer to my dog, but be a better, like, mentor to the new guys coming into the program.

Like, right now, just being patient is--that's--you know, that's where you want to start.

- And allow her to--if she needs distance, allow her to-- - Just give her a little bit of distance.

Whenever she wants that space, give her that space, and then start slowly allowing her to make the decision of wanting to bond with you.

If you need help, someone's there to help you.

- We create a positive culture on the facility as a whole, just by being there and having dogs there and allowing people to connect with their humanity.

My role as a mentor and a leader is something I take very serious.

So many of our participants didn't have somebody that they could look to and that they could trust.

- [woof] - No.

- And I took that responsibility very serious, especially when I was inside, and I wanted to help develop guys that had come in at a very young age and don't have the opportunity to do that.

Probably incorporating off, then up again.

- Okay.

- Might be too much originally, but I would do, like, "Up.

Up."

See if she'll, like, come up another step.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Everybody has their strength and weaknesses.

He's not just putting people to work, he's making sure they understand, "You can go do that, and you need to go do that.

It'll be good for you."

So it's not just the dog program with Jon.

It's the people.

It's what are they gonna do?

How are they gonna do it?

And how's it gonna help them grow?

- All right.

Let's go.

Uh-uh-uh.

Easy.

- Jack McFadden, who's one of the co-leaders of our program and who is one of my most trusted participants in the program at this point now, has been in prison 35 years.

[moody music] ♪ ♪ - Everything in prison-- everywhere I've been for the last, you know, for decades, was based on race.

Everything.

Everything was divisive.

This race did that, this race did that, this race did that.

And very seldom did they mix.

And if they did, it usually ended badly.

Here, it's changed everything.

- Brandy, get.

Drop.

Yes.

Good girl.

- Important part of the Paws For Life program and in the service dog training is bringing teams together and pairing guys to work as a team.

And a prime example of that is the team that's behind us, Donnell Campbell and Lorenzo Flores, who were much less than friends when we first started.

- Before I got to this yard, prison was different.

You basically stuck to your own race.

- It's a culture of racism.

But my way of thinking has totally changed.

And this is big on why we're all good friends.

This whole program is like a brotherhood.

No matter what race, no matter what you are, you know?

It's awesome.

- Good boy.

Yeah.

I was sentenced to die in prison.

And that's just the reality it was.

I was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

That's how you deal with it.

And then all of a sudden, they say Governor Brown decided, you know, that with everything I was doing with the Paws For Life program, he commuted my sentenced to 20 years to life.

My parole date is set for 2023.

And without a doubt, it's the dog program that keeps me going.

You know what it's like.

You get--I get asked a thousand questions every day.

All the guys, they're not trying to drive me crazy.

They're just--they want help.

They want to know how to do this, and they do that.

That makes everything worth it, you know.

And I get to play with puppies, you know, so that always makes it pretty cool too.

- For me, the dog program has let me be who I want to be.

- Yeah.

- You know?

And it just allows us to open those doors and lines of communication with everybody.

Brings back a whole lot of humanity to all of us.

- People didn't think it was gonna succeed.

And it just opened everybody's hearts--prisoners, officers, the communities, everybody.

It's a godsend, and I hope it goes everywhere in the whole state of California.

[uplifting music] - What happened in my own transformation and what I've seen hundreds of times over and over with Paws For Life is that it humanizes you, and it makes you feel like you are worthy of love.

- Peaches coming out.

Peaches coming out.

- Paws For Life is made up of different programs.

There's the shelter program.

There's this Canine Good Citizen program.

And there's also the service dog training program.

- We do a PTSD service dog for veterans of war.

So far, we've put nine dogs through service.

- This is Vera.

She was a rescue dog.

My name's Jeff, and Edwin--we're on the same--on Vera's team.

We're both military veterans that are incarcerated.

He's been in 28 years.

I've been incarcerated 28 years.

And we've trained her for the last year.

She's gonna be scheduled for PTSD service, which means right now she can do-- we train them with 57 different commands and 10 different PTSD service tasks that they must do.

- Here.

Get water.

Get water.

- For example, she gets medication.

She gets water.

She turns on lights.

She turns off lights.

She does night terror interruptions, flashback interruptions-- anything that the veterans may need.

- Oop.

Gimme.

You've seen somebody who had given their life for their country and then have become detached.

The dogs allow them to re-attach with us.

And I'll never forget that.

- I can't convey enough the impact that you guys are having training dogs for the military veterans that served our country, you know, that sacrifice so much.

I wish I could bottle up what it's done for my own life and, you know, share it with the whole world so that they can feel the experience what each one of us has been able to do.

- So, Major came to us from Bakersfield shelter.

Has scored high, high on his-on his tests, and he's making it through to come into the program.

- Major showed up about a year and a half ago.

I've been on his team for about six months or so now, working to get him ready.

Major's helped me a lot personally, with myself.

I've only been locked up for seven years, but I've had this mask on for quite some time.

I was very guarded.

I premeditated my look to help me cope with this environment.

It's not easy for me.

So, this is the first time I've shaved in seven years, so--and it's because of what Major's done with me and helped me come out of my shell, you know.

It's helped me tremendously.

And now, what you would call potential shelter dog now-- who would have known this shelter dog would become a PTSD service dog?

Your anxiety escalates, you can put him on--lay on, but that's depending on your--on what you want.

And as soon as you feel calm and relaxed, you can send him to retrieve your medication.

- Major, get meds.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

Give meds.

Give meds.

Thank you.

Yes.

- This is a very special week for Paws For Life K9 Rescue.

It's called boot camp, and it's where the veterans who are recipients of our service dogs come into the prison each day for a week, and they're partnered with the team that actually trained their service dog, and they learn to navigate all the commands with their service dog and the tasks that the dog had been taught to assist the veteran.

- Get leash and bring.

- Vera, get leash.

Bring.

- Give.

- Vera, give.

Yes.

Good girl.

- There's stringent criteria for somebody to become eligible for one of our service dogs.

We're not just handing somebody a service dog.

They are demonstrating that they are gonna be capable handlers with this dog.

When the process is finished, they take a long written exam, with more than 100 questions, and they take five outings into the community to show that they can handle the dog in every circumstance.

[energetic music] ♪ ♪ - So, today is our second PTSD service dog graduation.

These dogs have lived here for a year, straight from the shelter, and now they're ready to go off and become, you know, service dogs for the two veterans that are here.

- Sound check.

It's on?

Thank you.

- It's a pleasure to meet you.

Thanks for coming.

Welcome.

It's graduation day.

- Hey, baby.

- This is a huge day.

The people that are in our program that train the dogs, that worked so hard, their families get to come to this event and be a part of the Paws For Life family.

- The graduation for our service veterans, with the rigorous test that they've been through in the last five to seven days, they all get to graduate.

And for us, as Paws For Life members, we get certificate and acknowledgement of participation in the program.

- They did all the hard work.

They had Vera ready well before I got here.

And this week hasn't been getting Vera ready, it's been getting me adapted to her.

And it's--it's been amazing.

- Take care of her.

- Oh yeah.

- And I hope that she brings you a lot of joy.

- She's amazing.

But the fact is, without you, she wouldn't be where she is.

- Thank you.

Appreciate that.

- And it's a really emotional process for somebody to go through start-to-finish, to see a dog come in at its worst point, and then you take it to its best point, knowing it's going to a forever home, and it's about to have this great life.

- Good girl.

Good.

She's gonna be great.

She's gonna do great things.

- The impact on Alex and Jeff is life-changing.

When you help somebody that sacrificed so much for our country, and you're providing them with a service that's gonna change their lives forever, it does something to you inside, and it changes you forever as well.

- It's taken me a little bit to open up and be comfort and loved by a dog, and show love again, you know, from somebody who was so emotionally disconnected at one time in my life.

Drug addict, alcoholic.

My mom hasn't even heard it from me, and she's sitting right here, right now.

You know, it's so shameful why I'm here.

And for the first time, she's gonna hear I did what they said I did.

[emotional music] And this dog has brought so much comfort.

My mom's always-- she'll always be there, just like this program will be there for me.

And this is one of the greatest senses of accomplishment I've ever done in my life, since I've been here.

That shamefulness is still there, but it's--I'm getting better.

Been difficult.

I'm overcoming that slowly.

And being able to work with you guys, and working one-on-one with Richard and James has been the greatest thing.

It's bittersweet that Major leaves.

But there's one thing for sure, is Alex will always have another dog for me.

So, I just want to thank y'all for--for being here and giving me the time to speak.

And this is the greatest opportunity I've had.

I just want to thank you all.

- She actually has three dogs for you.

Don't worry.

[laughter] The way the program encompasses learning and compassion and understanding, and to receive, like, unconditional love from an animal is life-changing when 10, 15, 20 years prior, when you were sentenced, you were the animal, and you didn't deserve a second chance.

And Paws For Life changes that.

- ♪ All I hear is voices ♪ ♪ Everybody's talkin' ♪ ♪ Nothin' real is happenin' ♪ ♪ 'Cause nothin' is new ♪ ♪ Now when all is tragic ♪ ♪ And I just feel sedated ♪ ♪ Why do I feel numb ♪ ♪ Is that all I can do ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ And heaven knows I'm not helpless ♪ ♪ Yeah ♪ ♪ But I'm only human ♪ ♪ I can't see the use in me cryin' ♪ ♪ If I'm not even tryin' to make the change ♪ ♪ I wanna see oh oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Oh, oh oh oh oh oh ♪ I can't just preach, baby, preach ♪ ♪ Fallin' to my knees ♪ ♪ And though I do believe ♪ ♪ I can't just preach, baby, preach ♪ - I'd to give you an update on where Paws For Life is now.

Our dog program inside Lancaster Prison has quadrupled in size.

There's now 120 men participating in the program and about 40 dogs.

This a book is called "A Path to Our Freedom," and this is letters to you.

These are all the men in our programmer that you've commuted.

- From Lancaster?

- From Lancaster.

17 of the men that you--you commuted.

Over half of them are out, and are quite successful.

Governor Newsom just commuted four more of our guys about a month ago that are gonna have the opportunity to go to board now and go home.

Three of them had life without the possibility of parole.

- Yeah.

This idea of life without parole-- without hope-- there's about 30,000, 35,000 men and a few women in that situation, where they take away hope.

And what bothered me about that is it's so contrary to the basic principles that I certainly grew up with-- redemption, forgiveness.

If there's no hope, then there's no change.

And the idea of saying you may never get parole-- that's the philosophy.

We're gonna lock you up and we're gonna throw the key away.

That's a slogan.

But in most cases, that's a very nefarious, very insidious, and very destructive public policy.

So I'm glad we're demonstrating that, if people have a chance, many people will take advantage of that.

And that's for their benefit and the benefit of society and all their loved ones that are also affected.

And also the dogs.

They get affected too.

- Absolutely.

- This is a very important beginning, but only a beginning.

You have a lot more work to do.

- I do.

I do have a lot more work to do.

And, like, paying it forward-- you gave me another opportunity to live my life, and now I live my life in service of doing that and trying to bring more men and women home that have worked hard, that deserve a second chance.

So I thank you.

- Good.

Well, thank you very much.

- Thank you.

- I'll--I'll treasure this.

- Yeah.

[soft music] There's opportunities for every guy in this program.

If you work hard, stick to it, there's a chance for everybody to move up as a team.

Jensen, myself, the leadership, and Alex have decided to promote a couple guys into our service program.

The first guy has been in this program since the beginning.

He's had the biggest transformation, as far as maturing and changing who he was when he came in, to me, and I'm so proud to see his growth, the way he's become a leader in this program.

And we're promoting Chris Murray into service.

- Paws up.

all: Paws up.

- And it's just given me this chance to be vulnerable and really get in touch with the humanity that, you know, for so many years, especially in the beginning, I tried to just bury that, you know.

And I think it's allowed me to really just take the label off of myself, that I'm a criminal offender, and realize that underneath that I'm still a person, you know, and I just made some bad choices, some really bad choices.

But I can either let that hold me back, or try to grow from that.

And these dogs have really just-- they've given me that opportunity.

- Asher.

Out.

- So Asher was in our program for six weeks.

- Good boy, buddy.

Come.

Good boy.

Sit.

- You change a dog's environment, an amazing things can happen.

- That's it.

Down.

That's it.

Good boy, buddy.

- Being involved in a prison program when you're a trainer, you forge this incredible bond with the animal.

I've known Miguel for quite a while, but he's just recently decided to join the program.

- I've served over 31 1/2 years in prison.

My crime was murder, robbery.

I was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 19.

I had a really rocky start in prison.

Yeah, my way of thinking was unacceptable.

I had to earn my way to this yard.

Good boy.

- Miguel now has an opportunity to have some normal things in his life and to experience love for the first time in a very long time.

- It was very difficult when I came to this yard and I got to pet a dog for the first time in over 31 years or so.

It brought back a lot of memories.

But most important, at that time, I left behind my son, who was 5 1/2 months old.

Yeah.

On Asher's team, we were 29.

I was the team leader.

Asher was one of the first dogs in the shelter program that Chris assigned to me.

I seen the way he came into the program.

He was scared.

His tail was tucked in.

He didn't trust anyone.

And it reminded me so much of myself when I came to prison.

- Hey, Miguel.

What's going on?

- Hey.

What's going with you?

- How you doing, man?

- I'm doing pretty good.

How about yourself?

- How's Asher?

- Oh, he's great.

- Yeah?

He's great?

- Yeah, he's doing good.

I heard he may be leaving today.

- Yep.

You heard right, man.

This is his last day.

You gonna miss him?

- Yeah, I'm gonna miss him.

- Yeah.

He's a good dog.

You guys have done some really good work with him, man.

I'm gonna get ready to take him to his play group, and you're gonna have to say goodbye and part ways.

- All right, little pup-pup.

I'll miss you.

- Don't worry, though.

I'm sure we'll get plenty of updates.

- Yeah, I hope so.

All right, buddy.

- Asher.

- Bye, bye.

- Asher, let's go.

Yeah.

Asher.

Aww, I know.

You're gonna miss him too, huh?

Let's go.

Let's go to play group.

[emotional music] ♪ ♪ - Okay, so are you excited?

- I'm so excited.

- I can't wait for you to see him.

- Yeah.

- I mean, these six weeks have been amazing for him.

The transformation with Asher was unbelievable.

- Hey, Miguel.

I got somebody I want you to meet.

- And so to watch Miguel come into his own as a dog trainer, and then, you know, for Liz to come in and personally experience it and see not just the work that had gone into Asher, but that somebody's heart was a part of that, you know.

- He knows--sit.

Good boy.

Down.

Good boy, Ash.

Good boy.

Because "down" was the hardest one for him... - Yeah.

- That's the one I like to reward the most.

- Okay.

- He went from a dog that held his head down... - Stay.

- To a dog that held his head, wagged his tail... - Come.

Good dog.

- Yeah.

- Good dog.

- Would play with you, would roll around on the floor.

And I feel like it's gonna be such an amazing program for hundreds of other dogs.

You guys are gonna save so many dogs' lives doing this, and it's so important, 'cause the dogs that are coming into the shelter program have all been in the shelter for eight months to a year.

So I want everyone to congratulate Asher and his mom Liz, who's getting Asher today, Miguel and Chris, on their first graduation of our shelter Paws For Life dog.

all: Yay!

- Good boy, buddy.

- Miss Liz, I'm really--I'm gonna cry.

I'm really happy to hand the leash over of Asher, to you.

- Thank you.

- All right.

It's been a pleasure working with him.

- Thank you.

- I'm really super proud of him.

I love him very much.

- When it came time for him to hand the dog over to Liz, he didn't let go of the leash.

- And I think he was, like, saying to Asher, like, "I got you too," you know.

"You're leaving, but you're taking part of me with you," you know.

And it was hard for him to let go of that last little bit, because, you know, there's a possibility he'll never see Asher again.

- This training in the kennel was--well, he liked it.

- Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

- [small laugh] - Aww, Miguel.

- To see him cry and talk to Liz about his experience with Asher was pretty profound, because the guys in prison don't show emotion.

So for him to openly cry in front of everyone and show someone how vulnerable he is was pretty remarkable.

So, you know, that's what the dog does for them too.

It allows them to open up and feel emotion.

- You're welcome.

I'm happy for you.

I like to believe that one day I'll be blessed with the opportunity to be with my family.

But I'm going to spend the rest of my life here, I get to spend it helping these dogs.

I'm at peace with that.

- Sit.

Good boy.

- I've said, for such a long time, you know, the heart of one dog can change the lives of innumerable humans.

- Being able to just sympathize with our dogs and how they can just love us and make us feel so good about ourselves, it's like--I mean, I can't even describe it.

I mean, the only way I can tell you is by showing you, in every time I'm holding my dog.

- It works on a part of your soul that's been neglected for, like, sometimes decades upon decades.

Watch.

Yes.

Sit.

Yes.

Wait.

What we're dedicated to doing every single day is helping the dogs in every-- giving ourselves over to the dogs in every--in every way.

But I think everybody knows that the dogs are helping us.

[cheers and applause] [uplifting music] - I see the goodness of the men in here... and I see the pain that I've caused because of my actions.

But there's so much potential in human life.

And it's--it's difficult to come to terms with having been the cause of...so much pain.

But I can also see the beauty and the resilience of the human nature.

And I'm not willing to give up on that.

That's the last time I'm ever gonna have shackles on me.

[emotional music] ♪ ♪ I feel supported, I feel love, and I feel fortunate.

It's been 25 years.

It's just amazing.

I can't even describe it.

- [indistinct] - Here we go.

Perfect.

Lower your chin just a little.

Straight ahead.

Refresh.

Completely done.

Okay.

I'll put you in tank five.

Leave all your property now.

♪ ♪ - There's no shortage of love in Paws For Life.

When they go home, we can help people with employment and re-entry, because I have the experience of what it's like in re-entry.

And one of the best things is not one guy has re-offended.

Our recidivism rate in this program is zero.

- Look at that.

Look at that.

[whooping] - I'm gonna kiss it.

[laughter] - Comin' out.

[dog barks] - We're proud to say that we've had the most commutations of any other program within CDCR.

- I will be going to board, and I'd like to hope that they do find me suitable and let me go back--you know, let me go back home.

- We have a big vision in Paws For Life.

♪ ♪ We would like to establish the program as a template to go into other states and other prison systems.

- And the Paws For Life is a program that touches people.

It has a very human element to it.

And so it is a pathway for rehabilitation, transformation, self-improvement.

- Paws up.

all: Paws up.

- The first thing I'm gonna do--hug my family, tell them thank you, I'm sorry, and just, I don't know, maybe the air smells different out there, so take a deep breath of that.

[cheers and applause] - They are more than capable of training dogs, working for county shelters, city shelters.

They can absolutely help with the overpopulation of dogs on the outside.

- Jon Grobman's amazing, what's he's created here.

Him and Miss Alex are, you know, just-- they don't stop working.

They just-- - How can I bring in that hope and inspiration to somebody...knowing that they might not ever have the opportunity to get out?

But what we can do is make their life inside better, and that's what Paws For Life does.

- At the end of the day, I think the most important part of it really is that I know that I'm giving back to the community, and it's something positive.

I'm not creating pain.

I'm creating happiness.

I'm bringing love to somebody.

It is something that just continues to motivate me to do this.

- Good night, buddy.

Before, our purpose was to do as much time and die.

Now, they gave us this purpose, you know, and they gave our life meaning.

And finally someone noticed.

There's no program like this anywhere.

- I'm loved.

You know what I mean?

These dogs make you feel like you're loved.

They don't--they don't judge you.

They don't ask what your crimes were or nothing.

They just come up to you and love you no matter what.

- This is my passion, and I love it, and I want to grow it.

And I just--this is the best thing that I could ever do with my life.

[uplifting music] ♪ ♪ [mellow music] - Leave it.

Good girl.

- Okay, now she'll leave it.

- Leave it.

Ah.

Ah--leave it.

- [laughing] - Usually takes about three minutes.

Leave it.

Good girl.

- [laughing] - Leave it.

Ah-ah!

Ah!

Yes.

Good girl.

- [laughing] Oh, again?

- Ha.

Leave it.

Good girl.

She got it now.

[laughter] - So, is that-- is that slow or fast?

- That's fast, actually.

That's good.

Yeah.

Leave it.

Good girl.

Yes.

Good girl.

Okay.

[mellow music continues] - Come on, Kaluza.

- [yip!]

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