A partnership between animal rescue shelters and the Soledad State Prison is giving second chances to both rescue dogs on the brink of euthanasia and incarcerated men.

Jana Summers, a retired correctional counselor and Shannon Dunaven, a correctional counselor with the California Department of Corrections, are running Transforming Animals and Individuals’ Lives (TAILS) canine (K9) training academy in collaboration with South County Animal Rescue and the Soledad Correctional Training Facility.

The TAILS K9 Training Academy pairs a rescue dog with trainers from the correctional facility. Together, they assess the dog’s training needs and work through a four-month program. Since their launch in December 2023, they have served over 30 dogs, placing them in homes upon graduation.

This isn’t the first dog training program to operate at the Correctional Training Facility. The New Life K9 Training Program previously ran in Soledad for five years before pulling out in early 2022 because of a lack of funding among other reasons. The program paired puppies as young as 8 weeks old with incarcerated men, who trained them to be adopted primarily by U.S. veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress.

Robert Kube, a prior dog trainer who was recently paroled after a long incarceration, reflected on the impact of the previous program. “It was a big loss for me and my teammates,” he said. “We found a rehabilitated purpose in that program.” Summers and Dunaven vowed to find another source for a dog program at the facility.

After researching other programs within the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, it took the team a few months to make progress. “After a lot of hurdles and bumps with the administration, by Aug. 12, 2022, we received our first rescue pup straight from the euthanization list, a boxer mix,” Summers said.

Shortly after, Dunaven fostered a Weimaraner that had been pulled from the euthanasia list. Since they were both fostering, they brought the puppies into the facility where trainers such as Kube took care of them.

“We were allowed to unofficially run our program for seven months, while still working on getting the paperwork straight,” Summers said.

The team faced another setback in March 2023 when the program was pulled by the administration.

“At that time, this was more devastating than when the prior program pulled away from CTF,” Summers said. “Shannon and I had put a lot of hard work, time and dealt with so much turmoil getting the program to that point.” The team was back to square one.

“The problem with running dog programs is the lack of funding, there is never enough money for this,” said Kube.

After nine months and a change in administration, Shannon met with the current warden, Edward Borla, to explain the challenges of restarting the initiative. This time, their request was approved.

“We started looking for a local rescue to partner with, this is when South County Animal Rescue was brought to my attention by a friend (Lisa Pietro),” Summers said in an email. Soon they partnered to form TAILS K9 Training Academy.

What they do

Unlike other academies, TAILS K9 focuses on taking local rescue dogs that are on the euthanisation list.

“A lot of the rescue dogs are on the euthanisation list from Monterey County, the dog shelters are so full,” Dunaven said. “We try to pull dogs that have the ability to be trained by inmates.”

Since a lot of the incarcerated men were in the prior program, training the dogs for them was easier.

“When I assess the dogs, I look for personalities. Because, just like people, different dogs have different personalities,” said Jose Soloria, a trainer who evaluates the dogs before pairing them with people at the correctional facility. Once placed with a trainer, Soloria looks for their ability and willingness to work as a team.

“We are really saving lives with this program. We are giving a second chance to these dogs as we take them from the euthanisation list and try to rehome them; and to these men who want to open their hearts and learn compassion and what it means to give back,” Kube said.

After the completion of the training program, the dogs are ready for adoption, giving them a second chance at life. “We’re limited on fosters out here, so having partnership with TAILS has truly saved a lot of dogs from euthanasia,” board member Monica Martinez from SCAR said.

“It touches so many lives, the dogs, the handlers, our community and ultimately the family members who adopt these dogs,” Soloria said talking about the impact of the program.

Kube is now attending the CTF Fire Academy in Monterey County, training to become a California state firefighter after being a central part of the program.

“I wouldn’t be what I am today if it was not for these two ladies and the program,” Kube said.