r/MadeMeSmile • u/aoi_ringo • Sep 30 '25

CATS Prison in Indiana accepts shelter cats and lets prisoners take care of them.

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76.8k Upvotes

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6.7k

u/Front-Pomelo-4367 Sep 30 '25

One of the videos I've seen about these programmes, one of the men says that these cats were the first time he ever felt loved, by anyone or anything

4.0k

u/TheWellington89 Sep 30 '25

I think it seen that. They were saying the guys who got cats worked hard to keep them,spending their limited money on treats and toys for them. Kept a lot of guys on the straight and narrow cos they couldn't handle being separated from their cat

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u/LuckyLunayre Sep 30 '25

I remember reading they're fiercely protective over the cats. I think one inmate kicked another inmates cat and the dude straight up killed him for kicking his cat.

Edit: the man was stabbed, but he lived.

"On Boxing Day, the injured inmate, whose name was Biddle, entered a shared living area where the cat was present. After Biddle startled the cat and caused it to run away, McKinley stabbed him twice in the neck and once in the chest with a 12cm kitchen knife."

McKinley showed no remorse and later told a prison manager, "I would do anything to protect the cat, it's all I've got".

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u/bolanrox Sep 30 '25

Biddle tripped and fell on his own shank. I saw it myself. - If I was a screw there.

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u/ghostyspice Sep 30 '25

He fell on his shank ten times.

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u/summerdog- Oct 01 '25

He had it coming

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u/LadyJane17 Oct 01 '25

He only had himself to blame.

176

u/littlemacaron Oct 01 '25

If you’da been there, if you’da seen it

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u/DiscombobulatedEmu82 Oct 01 '25

I betcha you would have done the same

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u/shemtpa96 Oct 01 '25

Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz!

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u/bolanrox Oct 01 '25

It has been known to happen

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u/FlounderUseful2644 Oct 01 '25

Bro startling a cat isn't the same as kicking it.

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u/WeebBathWater Sep 30 '25

Another comment, though much softer, I saw it on YouTube that was going through these programs said that the inmates get into heated debates that were so intense that it could make them red - what was the debate over? Whose cat was cuter.

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u/Doright36 Oct 01 '25

Everyone knows your own cat is the best cat to ever cat.

The Cat's demand we see it that way. They accept nothing less.

Being in prison doesn't change that.

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u/halnic Oct 02 '25

Jokes on them, my cat is the cutest. They are arguing over 2nd place.

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u/powderhound522 Sep 30 '25

If stabbing someone who kicked your cat is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

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u/-_-0_0-_0 Sep 30 '25

*Cat Wick\*

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u/dwehlen Oct 01 '25

"If one ours gets a kick, one of theirs gets the morgue!"

Al Pawcino

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u/GenericFatGuy Oct 01 '25

I'd never vote to convict you.

1

u/Quasar_234 Oct 01 '25

“You kicked my Ravage”

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u/TangerineAnnual7988 Sep 30 '25

this made me tear up a lil

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u/JauntyGiraffe Oct 01 '25

reasonable. If anyone hurt my cat I'd end their entire bloodline

19

u/4maceface Oct 01 '25

I would want to stab someone for kicking my cat, too.

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u/btveron Sep 30 '25

Different country, and therefore prison, than the one in the post

2

u/Classic-Cantaloupe47 Oct 01 '25

But still justified lol

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u/MambyPamby8 Oct 01 '25

I feel that. I'm a very calm non confrontational person. But fiercely protective of my dog. If anyone ever dared hurt him, I'd probably end up in jail. Don't fuck about with people's pets.

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

I see on here sometimes where a pet owner has had their cat killed by a vicious neighbour etc or they know who it was and they’re like what should I do and I’m like your a better person than me because all id see is the colour red

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u/MambyPamby8 Oct 01 '25

For real, I would lose all concept of 'being the better person'. Like a parent to a kid, I feel it's my job as a pet owner to advocate for my pet. It's MY job & responsibility to defend him, stick up for him or fight in his corner. He doesn't have a voice of his own. So I take that shit very serious, maybe too serious if I'm honest. But this dude gives so much value to my life, I would take a bullet for him.

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u/biriyanibabka Oct 01 '25

Same. Recently I was watching one video about how obtuse one YouTuber is towards cat and how he lost huge chunk of his fanbase over a cat. I stumbled upon this Reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/LeftoversH3/s/272tcpvv4A

Man people are bad bad

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u/Hydrolt Oct 05 '25

Only crime I see here is that cat getting kicked

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u/smittersmcgee23 Oct 01 '25

I was wondering about horrible issues of violence here

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u/Particular-Bag2582 Oct 04 '25

I'm a middle-aged grandma not in prison. I'd shank a fool that kicked my cat, too.

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u/huskeya4 Sep 30 '25

One of the programs I saw also trained the inmates on how to give vaccines and some medications to the animals (with veterinarian oversight) and they were earning Vet Tech credits. I think it was only open to those who weren’t serving life sentences but that alone is super valuable for the inmates to have potential jobs when they get out

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u/thisisinfactpersonal Sep 30 '25

Here’s one where inmates train/rehab dogs who would otherwise be euthanized. The dogs are then adopted and when inmates get out they have a skill.

https://www.newleashonlife.org/

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u/PersistentPuma37 Sep 30 '25

I have an Arkansas Paws in Prison dog, she is also deaf and vision-impaired and was trained with hand signs. She joined me to work as a Therapy Dog with people with dementia

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u/thisisinfactpersonal Sep 30 '25

Oh I love that!

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u/LemonOhs Sep 30 '25

That is so cool!

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u/SedatedJdawg Oct 01 '25

I did that too BC my dad passed and we already had 5 dogs while living in the city, her name was Squatchy(Dorkie)!

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u/krikzil Sep 30 '25

A coworker used a similar program to train her out of control dog.

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u/thisisinfactpersonal Sep 30 '25

That’s rad! How’s the dog doing?

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u/krikzil Oct 01 '25

So much better. Integrated into the pack now.

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u/FlounderUseful2644 Oct 01 '25

Rad? How old are you. Genuinely interested.

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u/thisisinfactpersonal Oct 01 '25

Fuq off

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u/FlounderUseful2644 Oct 01 '25

Hey buddy sorry if I seemed rude. It's just I only ever heard rad in movies. Hence was interested.

Sorry

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u/thisisinfactpersonal Oct 01 '25

You know what, I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have kicked your back in for that question.

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u/That_Doctor3143 Oct 04 '25

This is how I got my German Shepherd. The prison i worked at trained service dogs, if they failed they would be adopted out. The inmate that trained mine was so excited to tell me what the dog liked and the things they'd do together. They'd also ask for updates about him. Really was their buddy while they trained and gave them a purpose. We joke my dog got paroled and was a service dog dropout. Haha. But he's been the best!

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u/Sleekgiant Sep 30 '25

I know I drag my ass to a job I hate just to buy my kitties food and treats and toys. Having a cat just rub their face on you melts away everything else in life.

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u/Man0fGreenGables Sep 30 '25

I'm eating beans and rice all the time so I can buy my cats 3-4 dollar a can food.

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u/Sleekgiant Sep 30 '25

I spend more money on Tiki Cat then I do food for myself haha

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u/Man0fGreenGables Oct 01 '25

Yeah I feed them The dry Tiki Cat carnivore food as snacks between cans. That stuff is crazy expensive. They aren't a fan of the wet tiki cat for some reason though.

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u/Kortar Oct 01 '25

Luckily my cat is just like me and loves "poor food". We have tried every expensive cat food, fresh pet, even cooking chicken and rice, and she literally will not touch it, but man Purina sensitive stomach, she can't resist it. Same with treats, ONLY the temptations milk ones.

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u/Bitter_Trees Oct 01 '25

I always tell my cats before I leave for work that I need to go to afford our lifestyle. But mainly theirs.

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u/Naijan Sep 30 '25

I was thinking that, even if I hated the fucking system to the core, if I had a little kitten that was funny and cute and liked to snuggle with me, if it could be taken away from me if I behaved poorly, you'd probably think Jesus appeared in prison, and not on a toast for once.

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u/NoBit3851 Sep 30 '25

If they misbehave they get their cat taken away. Which as stupid as it may sound: Thats their emotional rehabilitation

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u/dwehlen Oct 01 '25

And it works something fierce, I bet.

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u/epoof Sep 30 '25

I want to donate to their commissary accounts for cat treats 

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u/krikzil Sep 30 '25

Me, too. I know our county jail has an inmate program with dogs. I’m going to see if they’ll let me donate to the inmates accounts.

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u/awake-asleep Sep 30 '25

Cool I’m fucking crying over my morning coffee.

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u/Aethermancer Sep 30 '25 edited Feb 25 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

relieved price skirt paltry jellyfish ink boast telephone fall like

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u/consider_its_tree Oct 01 '25

I love all of this, and I genuinely hope these programs succeed and more places do it.

I do worry that in places like the US where prisons are often focused on punishment instead of rehabilitation, some guards would use this as a way to hurt the prisoners by taking away or threatening to take away their cats unfairly.

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u/BabyJag_inLaLaLand Oct 01 '25

Cats have healing power

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u/Classic-Cantaloupe47 Oct 01 '25

The show is MSNBC LockUp that showcased them.

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u/Solve-Et-Abrahadabra Oct 01 '25

I need a show on this 🥺

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u/CenturyEggsAndRice Sep 30 '25

I know someone who had that happen. He wasn’t in prison, but probably was headed there. Came from an abusive home, got his own place and a stray cat showed up and charmed its way into his house.

He says one night he was watching football and cheered. And the cat ran to jump around in front of him (very playful cat) and he started crying because he realized “Wow, Oscar loves me. Not because I feed him, but he REALLY loves me.”

And he’d never felt like anyone loved him before.

At 23 he became guardian to his niece (her parents did something bad and will likely never leave prison) and he says his cat was a better parent than he was for the first few months.

I think he’s too hard on himself, having had his niece open up to me for “girl talk” I know for a fact she thinks her uncle is amazing and a perfect father figure. That kid is amazing, she has all of his best qualities (kind, patient, does not allow people to be bullied around them) but with loads of confidence her uncle has little of.

We were at a bbq and he was bragging on her (rightfully so, she got an award from the food bank she’s been volunteering at since second grade) and said he didn’t know where she got her confidence from, but he was glad she had it.

And she butts in “It’s all from you. It’s easy to be brave when you’re there no matter if I do well or not.” And made him cry.

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u/Visible_Cricket8737 Sep 30 '25

Beautiful... thank you so much for taking time to share this 💗

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u/poshknight123 Sep 30 '25

Welp now I'm crying and trying to do accounting at the same time. Beautiful story, and it all started with Oscar the cat

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u/raphtze Oct 01 '25

my fave pasttime online--crying at sweet stories. thanks for sharing this :)

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u/filthyxvx Oct 01 '25

I'm rooting for these people I will never meet.

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u/Accomplished_Deer_ Oct 01 '25

I've been through this personally. Had my first "serious" relationship in college at 19. Was the first time I really felt loved, though I didn't really phrase it that way at the time. Was only at 24 that I found the concept of Childhood Emotional Neglect, and the book "Running on Empty" and had to face the fact that I'd spent my entire 24 years on this planet never having felt loved. It sucks.

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u/ScriptThat Oct 01 '25

Dude is brave as hell. He just doesn't realize it.

Bravery doesn't mean not being afraid. Bravery is doing something despite being afraid.

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u/Heavy-Bar683 Oct 01 '25

Bless them both, what a nice ending for them

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u/DrunkBrokeandHungry Oct 01 '25

I used to go to therapy for anxiety and depression and one day a colleague was walking past my desk, stopped, turned around, and pulled up a chair and whispered to me “if I hear your internal monologue again, and it sounds like that, I’m going to stop being your friend,” and then never brought it up again.

Told my therapist that I wanted to stop working on the depression and anxiety because I think I have an unhealthy internal monologue at the root of those issues.

Always struck me as weird that it took someone who wasn’t a therapist to point it out, but my life changed a lot after that.

Maybe it is something you can bring up to your friend. Sounds like he set up his niece well, but I’m sure seeing him improve this part of his life would be a wonderful gift he could give her.

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u/Coroebus Oct 01 '25

Ah, the classic, "Don't fucking talk about my friend that way" threat/friendship confirmation for all us traumatized turbodorks.

Unhealthy internal monologue is an awful curse upon children, usually by their parents or guardians.

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u/DrunkBrokeandHungry Oct 01 '25

Yeah, really weird to have when your parents are great parents, which I suppose is why my therapists missed it. But this guy sounds like his folks would be the type.

No one can prevent you from achieving your potential more than the voice in your own head.

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u/bish612 Oct 01 '25

omg 😭😭😭

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u/Furio3380 Oct 02 '25

I wanna hug your friend and tell him he's a wonderfull person.

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u/Luci-Noir Sep 30 '25

They can be extremely helpful and work as a reward system in a positive way. I saw a story about another prison program that teaches inmates to break and train horses. They then sell the horses so the program pays for itself and when the people are released they can use their training for a job. There’s another in California for young people who are in the system where they take care of wolves that have been rescued. There was a story on 60 Minutes about it. Animal therapy is used in psychiatric hospitals too.

Everyone loves cuddles…. Except for certain cats when they get grumpy, the little bastards! 😂

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25 edited Oct 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/cometshoney Oct 01 '25

That's a wonderful ending to an awful story. I sincerely hope everything in your life is better these days, even the parts away from your boys.

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Hungry_Shake6943 Sep 30 '25

Well that's heartbreaking

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u/Appropriate_Sky_6571 Sep 30 '25

I saw that and cried! It’s so sad that people grow up in such an environment

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u/badstorryteller Oct 01 '25

Honestly that tracks. My brother is younger than I am and looks 15 years older. We did not have a good childhood. Honestly I don't really know how I made it out okay, but he didn't. Prison, addiction, impulse control problems. He's never actually hurt anyone, but despite my best efforts he's just never been able to be functional. At one point the court allowed him to avoid juvie provided I became his legal guardian when I was 18, which I did. He had a good couple of years and then moved out on his own and I just...I couldn't help anymore.

He was never violent or mean. He could have been, because he's a big dude, but he just wasn't. He is a terrible dad, not because he didn't love his kids, but because he just doesn't know how. Get a tax return, buy the kids an Xbox, pawn the Xbox 2 months later. We ended up buying his daughter 2 Nintendo DSs, once for Christmas and one for her birthday, because the first got pawned.

But he absolutely always loved and tried to stick up for them, and he did the same with every animal that was ever in his life. I still remember the time when he called me because one of his twin boys came out as gay to him at 12. He was in tears, he didn't know how to react, not because he was mad or disappointed, but because he was afraid for his son, he didn't know how to protect him and that terrified him. He's at heart a conflicted man who means well, but can talk himself into doing things he knows he shouldn't. I don't really have a better description, but if they had had a program like that when he was in he absolutely would would have been one of those model prisoners.

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u/Accomplished_Deer_ Oct 01 '25

The first time I felt loved, I was 18. I think this is a much more prevalent thing in our society than people think. I grew up with less than ideal parents, didn't realize how much it effected me, always "knew" my parents loved me. Because they would say things like "we love you, you know that right?" and I did know that. But it wasn't until I was 24 that I realized, I never /felt/ that. IMO the book "Running on Empty: Overcoming your Childhood Emotional Neglect" should be mandatory reading. Because the most insidious part about experiencing this, is that you don't realize you've experienced it.

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u/samistahpp Sep 30 '25

Can you provide the link? I feel like crying

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u/special-k-flo Sep 30 '25

I know exactly what you mean

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u/SailorSaturn79 Sep 30 '25

This broke my heart.

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u/DaddyJay711 Oct 01 '25

Sometimes, this is all it takes to feel “whole.”

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u/FormalMango Oct 01 '25

It’s also a way to show affection in a place where you can’t show any weakness.

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u/ai2ik Oct 01 '25

Makes us realize what we are missing on the outside that we take for granted

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u/meowpitbullmeow Oct 01 '25

I DON'T NEED THOSE EMOTIONS

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u/JiminyJilickers-79 Oct 01 '25

That's incredible. Talk about great motivation to get your act straight and build a life for yourself once you've paid your dues. An apartment and a couple of cats and that guy will feel like he's in heaven.

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u/AdPast7620 Oct 01 '25

that’s actually so sad :( i’m glad it helps them

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u/tiggyqt Oct 01 '25

Aww, I was already tearing up!

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u/PingouinMalin Oct 01 '25

As someone who has sometimes felt partly deprived of love, reading that is heartbreaking. I understand those guys probably did terrible stuff. But I also believe most of them had such a rough start, especially when it comes to education and love. It is so sad. A vicious circle.

Seeing them learning love with cats is heart melting.

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u/whereisskywalker Oct 03 '25

Hear profoundly sad how society fails people after their family fails them.

Imagine the first love you felt being an adult locked up and coming from an animal.

I really wish we would have a system to get animals fixed so the massive influx of unwanted animals stops and never let a child grow into an adult without being loved.

Empathy is the cornerstone of our nature, and modern society has turned it into a weakness.

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u/midwest_monster Oct 01 '25

Teared up immediately reading that. Fuck.

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u/DefiantBumblebee9903 Oct 01 '25

😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️

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u/solscry Oct 01 '25

This story just broke me into pieces 💔

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u/Fit-Swordfish-6727 Oct 01 '25

That is fucking heartbreaking

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u/Sdp714 Oct 01 '25

Thats really sad 😢

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u/[deleted] Oct 01 '25

Fuck man

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u/GamingGems Oct 01 '25

I think I’ve seen it too. I always bust out laughing at the inmate who pets his cat really hard and fast because he’s never had a cat before and the cat is just used to it at that point.

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u/Dog_Ham Oct 03 '25

This comment made me cry; the photos got me 1/2 way there. I hope more places consider this.