SHE WAS FILTHY, A STRAY black Labrador who had lived outside and wanted nothing to do with people — just to chew on a tattered tennis ball.
But Janette Thomas sensed in her a gentle temperament and a potential to be trained and eventually placed in a loving family.
So, on Feb. 14 this year, Thomas rescued the 1 ½-year-old, slightly undersized Lab from a San Bernardino animal shelter with a high kill rate.
Since it was Valentine’s Day, a name for the pup came quickly to Thomas: Rosie.
ROSIE TAKES A BREAK ON THE CAMPUS OF CHRIST CATHEDRAL. PHOTOS BY SCOTT SMELTZER/DIOCESE OF ORANGE
UNIQUE PROGRAM
Since 2007, Thomas has overseen the rescue and training of more than 500 shelter dogs like Rosie and had them adopted — including more than 30 service dogs who went on to change the lives of people living with disabilities — through her non-profit organization, Cell Dogs, Inc.
Modeled after Prison Pet Partnership, co-founded in Washington state in 1981 by Sister Pauline Quinn, a Dominican nun — Cell Dogs enrolls rescued dogs in basic obedience training programs in juvenile and adult correctional facilities.
For eight weeks, inmates train the dogs. Then Thomas and her small team finds them homes. A suggested donation to adopt a dog through Cell Dogs is $600, but the 501c3 organization provides service dogs to veterans and first responders at no cost.
‘A TRIFECTA WIN’
“I honestly think it’s a trifecta win,” said Thomas, who left a successful career as an engineering and executive manager in the global microelectronics industry to launch Cell Dogs in 2007. Growing up in Long Island, N.Y., her dream was to become a veterinarian.
“The dog gets rescued from the shelter, the adopters get a well-trained dog, and we have a chance to develop skills sets in the incarcerated youths who are training the dog with the hope of when they get out, they’ll do wonderful things,” continued Thomas, founder and executive director of Cell Dogs.
“And for incarcerated adults not getting out of jail/prison or whose release from custody is uncertain, the program provides the opportunity for loving interaction with dogs for people with a lot of time on their hands.”
JANETTE THOMAS IS THE FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CELL DOGS.
‘EVERYONE WANTS LASSIE’
When adopted, graduates of Cell Dogs are crate and potty trained and know all basic obedience skills. All the dogs are spayed or neutered, have all their vaccinations and all their medical issues have been identified and resolved.
“Everyone wants Lassie,” Thomas said, “but most people don’t recognize how much work is involved in getting Lassie as their own pet.”
Less than 1% of Cell Dogs have been returned, and about 70% of the jailed trainers don’t reoffend upon release — which saves millions of dollars that otherwise would have been spent keeping these offenders behind bars, Thomas said.
Having inmates train dogs is invaluable because it teaches them responsibility and imparts crucial life and job skills.
“Spanky has been my one and only friend in here and I will forever miss the little guy,” an incarcerated female program trainer said. “He and I had a bond I will never forget, and I am proud to say that I was able to be a part of his life.”
BISHOP VANN IS A FAN
Cell Dogs has no less prominent a fan than Kevin Vann, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.
Thomas recalled the rainy day in November 2014 when she met Bishop Vann at the OC Animal Care shelter when it was located next to the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange (OC Animal Care now is in Tustin).
“It was serendipitous how I met the bishop,” recalled Thomas, a parishioner of La Purísima Catholic Church in Orange. “He was walking around the shelter. He’s a very compassionate person when it comes to animals, particularly dogs.”
Thomas was able to secure for the bishop a terrier/Lhasa Apso male he named Griffin and, the following year, a white-and-tan female cocker spaniel he named Gracie. Both pups spent four months being trained at the California Institute for Women prison in Chino.
After Griffin (named after the bishop’s high school in Springfield, Ill., Sacred Heart-Griffin) died this spring, Bishop Vann found two new puppies through an app and contacted Cell Dogs to train them.
Those scruffy terrier siblings, Beau, and Bree, graduated in late August from Cell Dogs’ eight-week training program at Juvenile Hall, the facility for minors in Orange that is run by OC Probation.
“We try to make the transfer as seamless as possible, so adopters are not just getting a leash and a dog, but a high-valued, trained pup,” Thomas said. “Adopters just need to be consistent with the training we started.”
DONORS SOUGHT
Cell Dogs relies entirely on in-kind corporate and private donations but continues to identify more stable corporate, foundation, and private donor relationships, said Thomas, who hasn’t taken a salary since launching the program in 2007.
“I’ve become a professional beggar,” she said with a laugh.
Thomas’ non-profit recently held its annual “Giving Day” on Dec. 10, with a goal of raising $100,000. Immediate needs include two staff trainers and a part-time program administrator.
Less than 8% of Cell Dogs’ annual revenues are used for administrative costs, noted Thomas, adding that training one service dog costs $30,000.
Plans are underway to extend programming outside the walls of the county jail and probation systems to support individuals in transitional housing.
SECOND CHANCES
Cell Dogs, which has had programs in six county and state jail, prison and probation locations since 2007, is in the business of providing second chances for rescue dogs and individuals who made bad choices.
Rosie is thriving. Now with a shiny coat, she continues to love chewing tennis balls.
This reporter should know.
My wife and I ended up adopting her through Cell Dogs after learning about the program while I was conducting research for this story. It wasn’t planned. Someday, we thought, we’d love to have a dog. There were many reasons to wait.
OC CATHOLIC WRITER GREG HARDESTY AND HIS WIFE KATHLEEN POSE WITH THEIR RECENTLY ADOPTED DOG ROSIE AT CHRIST CATHEDRAL CAMPUS.
We couldn’t.
It all seemed so serendipitous.
And it didn’t hurt that I’m a die-hard Cincinnati Reds fan who idolized player Pete Rose in his mid-’70s heyday. And that the middle name of my mother, who died in 2022, is Rose.
So here we are, grateful and happy to be experiencing the joy of witnessing Rosie’s second chance at life. Hands down, it’s been a big hit.
For more information or to donate to Cell Dogs, contact [email protected] or visit www.celldogs.org.