Inmate Kristina Hazelett gets smooches from a doggo. (Picture: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Animal Safety Unit (MASH for short) used to be a men’s prison.

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Now it’s home to Tiger, a pit bull terrier rescued from a dog fighting ring, and a bunch of other dogs who need some extra love and care.

MASH runs a program that allows inmates at a prison to care for dogs rescued from abuse, providing them with the comfort they need to learn to trust people again.

It’s a great program for the dogs, obviously, who’ve been moved from awful conditions to the shelter, but for the inmates, too, who get the joy of time spent with a bunch of pups.


Inmate Aubrey Herrera, 31, teaches one dog how to play. (Picture: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Six days a week women at the prison are moved to the shelter as part of the 30 day program.



Since 2000, the shelter’s provided a place where dogs, cats, and horses can be cared for until they’re ready to move to a permanent home, and where inmates can get some much needed interaction with animals.

The puppies all get their own cells. (Picture: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Volunteers investigate complaints of animal cruelty, go in and rescue the animals, and then bring them back to the shelter where they can recover.

The cells have been converted into mini rooms for the dogs, and have been renamed Bow Wow Way, Purr Lane, 2nd Chance, and Ruff Road. Lovely.

Inmate Kristina Hazelett, 35, wears a hazmat suit to play with a puppy infected with giardia (Picture: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

‘I get so much out of it, probably more than the dogs do,’ Kristina Hazelett, one of the women in the program, told REUTERS.

‘It’s very therapeutic for me as well, not just them, which was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.’

Kristina, along with the other women in the program, had to go through rigorous interviews and screenings before they were allowed to start looking after the dogs.

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Detention Officer Leanne Weeks, 32, runs alongside a pupper. (Picture: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

As part of the program, they work with animal care technicians to learn how to get the dogs ready for adoption – the bonus being that this prepares many inmates for working with animals after they leave jail.

One of the inmates, Aubrey Herrera, has learned a lot from looking after the dogs.

‘These dogs are locked up just like we are and they need love just like we do,’ she said.

‘It’s not about us when we come here. It’s about the dogs.’

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