Since late March 2015, a converted office inside Pendleton Correctional Facility in Indiana has been home to a rotating group of shelter cats. The project is called F.O.R.W.A.R.D., short for Felines and Offenders Rehabilitation with Affection, Reformation and Dedication. Selected inmates feed the cats, groom them, clean their space and spend hours helping nervous animals get used to people, so that the cats have a better chance of being adopted.
The cats come from the Animal Protection League, a no-kill shelter in nearby Anderson. By October 2022 about 60 cats and kittens had passed through the room, and that month the program was named the ASPCA's Cat Advocate of the Year. Here is how it works, why prisons run animal programs at all, what the evidence does and does not show, and why the idea still divides opinion.
How the Pendleton cat room works
When the program launched, prison staff turned an office into living quarters for the cats, complete with shelves, scratching posts, beds and hiding boxes. According to a 2015 report carried by Corrections1, the whole set-up was funded through donations rather than the prison budget.
A small team of inmates is responsible for the daily routine. That means meals and fresh water, litter trays, brushing, checking for signs of illness and, above all, time: sitting quietly with a frightened cat until it stops hiding. The participants also make toys and furniture for the room, and several have learned to crochet tiny hats and blankets, as the photos below show.
The goal is adoption. The hope stated at the launch was that prison staff and inmates' relatives would take cats home, which in turn frees up space at the shelter for other animals. A cat that arrives too timid to show itself to visitors can leave relaxed enough to cope with a family.
Why shy shelter cats need this kind of help
Many cats that end up in shelters have had rough starts. Some were strays, some were neglected, and some simply never had much contact with people during the few weeks of kittenhood when socialisation matters most. In a busy shelter, these cats tend to hide at the back of their cages, hiss or freeze. Visitors walk past them, and they wait far longer for a home than confident, friendly cats do.
What changes a shy cat is slow, predictable, gentle contact, repeated day after day. A shelter with limited staff rarely has the hours to give that. A group of inmates who are on site all day, and who have chosen to be there, can. Prison staff told reporters they noticed clear changes in cats that had come from poor backgrounds and had not been properly socialised.
What the inmates say they gain
The program is also meant to help the people inside. Looking after a living animal involves routine, patience and responsibility for another creature's wellbeing, things that daily life in prison offers few chances to practise. Participants told the press in 2015 that caring for the cats helped them stay calm and relax during their sentences, and staff described their visits to the cat room as a highlight of the day.
Chloe Wargny, an administrative assistant at the prison who works with the program, told WRTV in 2022 that she had seen growth in both the cats and the men. Her most quoted remark sums up what many visitors notice: I think some of the incarcerated individuals take care of the cats better than they take care of themselves.
She also described the reward of watching a particularly shy cat come out for certain people.
Similar programs in other prisons
Pendleton is not unique. Animal programs have spread through American prisons for decades, most often with dogs that inmates train for adoption or as assistance animals. Cat programs are less common but well established.
One of the longest running is at Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington State. There, the rescue group Purrfect Pals has placed semi-feral and very shy kittens with inmate foster carers since 2006, in a psychiatric unit that houses offenders with mental illness. The scheme is known as Monroe Corrections Kitten and Cat Connections (MCKC). Candidates must meet strict standards on behaviour, hygiene and psychiatric stability, are interviewed by unit staff and trained by a foster-care manager, while Purrfect Pals pays for food, litter and veterinary care. The organisation says more than 1,100 cats and kittens have graduated from the program.
Purrfect Pals also reports that the animals have reduced idleness on the unit, encouraged participants to enrol in school and follow unit rules, and brought a new calmness to the ward. These are the organisation's own observations rather than results from an independent study, but they match what staff in other prison animal programs commonly describe.
What the research does and does not show
It is easy to assume that a prison cat room reduces reoffending. The honest answer is that nobody has shown that for Pendleton. No independent evaluation of F.O.R.W.A.R.D.'s long-term effect on participants has been published, and the reports about it rely on accounts from staff and inmates.
Studies of prison animal programs in general, mostly involving dogs, tend to report better behaviour, less stress and improved social skills among participants. However, many are small, and inmates who are accepted into such schemes are usually already chosen for good conduct, which makes it hard to separate the effect of the animals from the effect of selection. The benefits that are easiest to document are the practical ones: cats become adoptable, and shelters gain space.
That is still a meaningful outcome. Each socialised cat that finds a home is one fewer animal waiting in a cage, and a program that runs on donations and volunteer effort costs taxpayers little.
The debate over animals behind bars
Not everyone likes the idea. In early 2018, the ITV documentary Death Row 2018, presented by Trevor McDonald, featured Indiana State Prison, a different maximum-security institution in the same state. Images of prisoners holding cats circulated online afterwards, and some social media users argued that people convicted of terrible crimes should not be allowed the comfort of a pet, or could not be trusted with one. The final photo below appears to be a still from that broadcast.
Supporters answer that the programs are tightly supervised, that participants are screened, and that the animals' welfare is the first priority. They also point out that most prisoners will one day be released, and skills such as patience, routine and caring for another being are useful outside. Whatever one thinks of the punishment question, the cats themselves gain a calmer life and a better chance of a home.
How to support programs like this
- Adopt from a shelter and consider an older or shy cat; the ones that need patience are often overlooked.
- Donate to shelters that run outreach programs, including the Animal Protection League in Anderson, Indiana, or Purrfect Pals in Washington State.
- Volunteer as a cat socialiser at a local shelter. Simply sitting with nervous cats and reading aloud can help them get used to people.
- Follow the program on its Facebook page to see the cats currently available.
Sources: Corrections1: Ind. prison gives shelter cats second chance (April 2015); WRTV: Pendleton program recognized by ASPCA (October 2022); Purrfect Pals: Prison Foster Program; What to Watch: Death Row 2018 with Trevor McDonald; F.O.R.W.A.R.D. program on Facebook. Photos: F.O.R.W.A.R.D. program, Pendleton Correctional Facility; final image from ITV’s Death Row 2018.
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