GROOMED FOR REDEMPTION PROGRAM GIVES INMATES SKILLS FOR WORK WHILE DOGS GET CHANCE AT NEW HOMES.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

CASTAIC - Gently placing a frightened beagle onto a grooming table, an inmate at Pitchess Detention Center swings a tattooed arm around the dog, pats him softly on the back and whispers, ``Shhh, puppy, puppy, puppy.''

Calming puppies isn't commonly associated with jail life, but it's an integral part of the Pitchess pet grooming program.

``You find out how much compassion you have when you're grooming a dog and you know he's going to be killed if he doesn't get a home,'' said 48-year-old inmate Rodney Gammage. ``Sometimes I can really feel it when my dog's going to get a home. I wish I could save them all.''

About a dozen dogs, cats, kittens and puppies from the county-operated Castaic Animal Shelter are groomed at the neighboring jail complex each day.

The animals benefit from the preening and pampering by getting a better shot at finding a new home. The inmates get credit for vocational training, time deducted from their sentences for the work they perform and a self-esteem boost, said Debbie Pieropan, the director of the pet grooming program.

``It makes them feel really good when we get a ratty-looking dog in here and he goes out with a wag in his tail,'' said Pieropan, a vocational education teacher from the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District who has been leading the Pitchess pet grooming program for about six years. ``The guys think, hey, I did that, and they know they're helping the animals find a home.''

About half of the animals groomed at Pitchess ultimately find homes, she said, adding that the program helps save some of the thousands of dogs and cats that would otherwise be euthanized at the Castaic Animal Shelter each year.

Of the 3,490 dogs brought to the shelter last year, Pieropan said 1,782 were euthanized, And, she said, of the 1,701 cats brought to the shelter last year, 1,081 were euthanized.

``It's really neat to see what the guys will go through to get a dog adopted,'' she said. ``Every once in a while we get a dog with an attitude in here, and I tell them that we're not going to groom that one. But they say, oh, no, we're going to save him. They want to save them all.''

Twenty-year-old inmate Ricardo Gomez said he'd never handled a dog before joining the pet grooming program.

``They're scared sometimes, but I just pet them a little bit and let them know it's OK,'' Gomez said. `'I like dogs a lot better now than I used to because I handle them more. I have a cat at home, but I never had a dog.''

Gammage said he's had a lot of pet grooming experience by caring for his Labrador retriever and his grandmother's cat.

``This is a daily full-time job for me at home, so I'm very used to it,'' he said, stroking a small black puppy as he placed a cotton ball in the dog's ear. ``I shaved this dog two weeks ago. This week, it'll take about 35 minutes to brush her, clean and trim her ears, clip her nails if they need it and give her a bath.''

After the dogs are lathered and rinsed, they are brought back to the grooming table for a blow dry - not the dogs' favorite part of the grooming process.

``I usually start the blow dryer on a slow speed and put my hand on their back to calm them down until they get used to it,'' Gammage said. ``Then they find out it feels pretty good.''

Inmates also groom Pitchess employees' pets for a $10 fee, which is used to purchase supplies for the pet grooming program, Pieropan said.

The inmates get five days knocked off their sentences for every 20 hours of work they do. When they're released, they receive a certificate of job training they can use to either get a job or pursue further training, Pieropan said.

Most importantly, she said, the men get recognition for a job well done.

``Some of these guys have never had anyone pat them on the back and tell them they did a good job,'' she said. ``This is a real positive thing for them to get some self-esteem while they're learning a new skill and learning to be compassionate.''

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3 photos

Photo: (1 -- color) Inmate Alfonso Guzman brushes a dog from the pound during a pet grooming session at the Pitchess Detention Center.

(2 -- color) A Rottweiler mix from the Castaic Animal Shelter gets his ears cleaned so he might better at tract an adoptive family.

(3) This dog appears eager to get a bath from an inmate at the Pitchess Detention Center.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer