ATLANTA — Gwinnett County's Operation Second Chance and Fulton County's Canine Cellmates program are both shutting down.
Animal advocates said this is a huge loss for the inmates, who learn so much from the dogs, and for the animals that are desperate to find a home.
Georgia is also facing an animal overcrowding crisis, which volunteers said makes this news so much worse.
Now, two of the women who helped start the programs are working together to try and save the last dog.
His name is Tien and he knows both how to find a treat and find a friend.
"He has never met a human stranger, he loves everybody. No person goes unlicked," said Gwinnett Jail Dogs Volunteer Lori Cronin.
But what Tien can't find is his freedom, as he is the last dog in Cell Block C.
The Gwinnett County Jail Dogs program is closing down on Dec. 15.
"Over the last 13 years, Operation Second Chance has almost adopted out 1,300 cats and dogs," Cronin said.
She added that Tien saved the lives of so many animals over the years and so many incarcerated men.
"We have the lowest recidivism rate in the jail in our unit. They don't come back. We are able to find their programs and they're finding their way," Cronin continued.
Keeping people out of prison saves taxpayers millions of dollars, but programs like this are getting harder to find.
"It felt like Deja Vu for sure when I heard the news about the Gwinnett Program," said Canine Cellmates Founder Susan Jacobs-Meadows. "To be shutting down rehabilitative programs for men at a time when we are dealing with so much overcrowding and so many jails for extended periods of time, it's a deplorable kind of thing."
The Fulton County Jail ended its Canine Cellmates program in January of this year.
Jacobs-Meadows said it was a loss for the men and also the animals in Georgia.
"We're also doing this at a time when we are at the worst animal welfare point in 10 years! This is the worst possible time to be shutting down programs like this," she said.
Jacobs-Meadows thinks everyone in the state should be invested in programs that teach prisoners how to have empathy and responsibility for animals.
"These men are going to go back to their communities, they're going to go back to your communities. Don't we want them to come home with more skills, more knowledge, the feelings of empathy for other living beings? Isn't that what we want? I think it's what we want," she said.
In the meantime, Susan and Lori are working together now to find a way forward for the animals and the inmates who so deeply care for them.
"Not once did they say, what's going to happen to me? What's going on? It's always, 'What's going to happen to the dogs?' They all said how this has basically saved their lives," said Lori.
They want to get Tien adopted into a loving forever family by the time the program closes on Dec 15.
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