Rescue & redemption: How dogs and inmates are saving each other at Granite Reformatory

For us dog lovers, it is the unconditional love that our furry friends that makes any day better. And that is the feeling that gives hope at the Oklahoma state reformatory in Granite.

The program was initiated by Warden Chris Rankins a little over one year ago, called the reformatory dogs program, bringing dogs that are deemed unadoptable into the prison in Granite to be trained by the inmates.

“He stays in the cell with us, he’s in a crate at night, so he’s crate trained as well, so yeah, pretty much 24 hours, he’s around us one hundred percent of the time,” said Remond Meadows, an inmate at the facility.

“They learn basic obedience, they learn socialization, they learn crate training, they learn how to be house trained and interact with other dogs and other people, which makes them way more highly adoptable,” said Farley Nash with the Altus Animal Welfare Association.

Before the program, sadly, these dogs were facing an uncertain future, but just six weeks later, most are being adopted into their forever homes.

“You put everything into it, it’s like everything else, it doesn’t exist in these walls because you are so focused on the animals,” said David Kemp inmate at the facility. 

And the reality is, as much as the inmates are saving the dogs, the dogs are saving the inmates.

“At first, I thought that I would be training him, but it’s he has trained me a little bit. It kind of taught me how to be a more responsible person,” said Meadows.

“A lot of these guys, before we had the dogs, they were kind of temperamental, maybe a chip on their shoulder, but these dogs, like I say, bring out the best in people,” said Matthew McKeown, unit manager at the facility.

The impact of the program extends beyond saving the dogs.

“Yeah, it’s everything for the animals,” said Kemp.

“He’s a pretty good dog, and I love him,” said Meadows.

While the program is still somewhat new, of the more than 60 dogs that have gone through the program, all but one have been adopted.