Oregon Youth Authority project pays off for young men and shelter animals

Oregon Youth Authority project pays off for young men and shelter animals
Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2010, 4:35 AM

Ossie Brown gets close to Daphne, a pitbull who was adopted a short time later.

A young man sits in a field in eastern Oregon. The Elkhorn Mountains rise behind him under a blue sky. Facing him, a pit bull. The young man tenderly takes the dog's face in his hands. "She's real nice," he says. Then, quietly: "She'll probably be gone next week."

He was wrong. It didn't take nearly that long.

Not five minutes after the young man left in a truck with three other convicted felons, a smiling 7-year-old boy and his mother adopted Daphne.

Once again, a dog at The Animal Shelter in La Grande had found a home, in part due to the efforts of the offenders housed at the Oregon Youth Authority's River Bend facility.

River Bend is a place where youth offenders spend the last portion of their sentence, to learn the skills needed to transition back into society after spending their formative years at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. Every Thursday, a group from River Bend helps at the La Grande shelter, an arrangement that greatly benefits the youths and the animals.

A number of programs at River Bend aim to rehabilitate the youths, including drug and alcohol counseling, classes toward high school diplomas, online college courses and community service.

"It's about replacing old habits with new ones," says superintendent Brian Blisard.

A few years ago, after a shakeup at River Bend put Blisard in position to lead the facility, he "jumped at the chance" to partner with the nonprofit animal shelter, he says.

Soon a plan was in place: A group of young men from River Bend would come once a week to clean kennels, feed the animals, walk the dogs and train them with basic commands.

The plan has worked out great, everyone involved says.

"After the first day (at the shelter), when they come back, you see a different young man," Blisard says. "Their humane side comes out."

The men, many who have spent most of their teenage years "behind the fence," as several put it, are eager to participate in community-service programs, particularly to come work with dogs for a few hours.

"I could bring 10 kids out each week," says Doug Lawson, a River Bend coordinator who escorts the youths every week. Four or five get to go every Thursday.

Their work helps the shelter staff -- and the dogs -- greatly, says shelter director Joni Neustel. Although there are other foster-based rescue groups around, the shelter is the only place in a five-county area where people can relinquish animals. Needless to say, it's always busy.

The shelter has two full-time and two part-time employees to take care of an average of 30 dogs and 17 cats. They scarcely have the time to take the dogs on walks, which are crucial for socialization and adoptability.

Having the men from River Bend come in has made a tangible difference, Neustel says. For example, a few weeks ago a Lab mix named Pixie was at the shelter. Pixie was fearful around people, not a trait that gets a dog adopted quickly.

"I'm pretty sure she got beaten," says Charles Rodriguez, 21. He's serving more than five years for a robbery he committed to get money for drugs when he was 16. Pixie "cowered to the ground, was scared of other dogs and people," Rodriguez says.

In three visits, he made her "come out of her shell," he says. "I got a ball, and when she was chasing the ball she didn't think about anything else, and she was wagging her tail."

After some time chasing balls under the desert sun, the two retreated under a shady tree, where he gave the dog some water. The Lab was visibly relaxed. The two repeated their routine for two more Thursdays, until Pixie started playing with other dogs and responding to staff members.

Then she was gone, adopted, for which Rodriguez deserves sole credit, Neustel says.

The men are proud of making it easier for the dogs to find new homes. "We try to train them so they can go to a better place and not be in a cage," says Cesar Placencia, 19, convicted of assault. But it's sad, too, to see them go, he says.

"It's a lose-lose situation," says Ossie Brown, 20, who earlier got nose-to-nose with the pit bull. "You're hoping (the dogs) are there again next week, and hoping they're not."

Some of the men cry when they work with a dog for a long time and it gets adopted, says Lawson, the coordinator, after jokingly checking over his shoulder to make sure none of them can hear him.

But the program exists not only to help dogs and get convicted offenders some fun time under the sun. Transitioning back into society can be very difficult, starting with the simplest routines.

"At first, it was weird to talk to the shelter staff," Rodriguez says. "I didn't know how to start a conversation or what to talk about. I'm getting used to saying 'Hello, how are you?' again."

The men also relish being given responsibility for the first time in years. "To be able to be trusted, it makes you feel better," Rodriguez says.

The men aren't given orders for each individual task; they simply show up and go to work, checking in with staff to see what's needed. "This puts us on good feet to get out," Brown says. "The dogs help us out, too."

It seems the program is working: The men helping the dogs last Thursday have every intention of not repeating past mistakes. "I'm ready to do good, to go to college," Placencia says, noting that he's already started with online classes toward a degree in computer science.

"It's good to show people that I can improve," Rodriguez says. "I did need the time (in prison) in a way. It took me a long time to figure out where I'm going."

He knows where he's not going in six months: back to the Portland neighborhood where he ran with the wrong crowd. Instead, he will live with his brother in Washington and continue working on a degree in nursing.

"We used to hurt a lot of people," Rodriguez says. "Right now I can give back to the dogs. In nursing, I can give back to people."

-- Jacques Von Lunen

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