'Sense of purpose': Flagler County jail inmates foster homeless kittens
Launched in early July in collaboration with the Flagler Humane Society, the kitten initiative is part of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office's Successful Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Treatment Program, or SMART, at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
The idea is to provide a "unique therapeutic experience aimed at long-term recovery for both the kitten and the inmates," according to the Sheriff's Office.
"Addiction often creates isolation and self-centered patterns," Sheriff Rick Staly said. "Fostering kittens requires empathy, structure and consistency — qualities that support recovery and rehabilitation."
An inmate and kitten bond in a foster initiative launched by the Flagler Sheriff's Office's Successful Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Treatment Program in collaboration with the Flagler Humane Society.
The society provides kittens for the inmates to take on feeding and socializing. Playing such critical roles in the kittens' lives gives the inmates a "sense of purpose," responsibility, emotional support and a daily routine — all of which are "key components in effective addiction treatment," according to the Sheriff's Office.
The partnership stemmed from a Sheriff's Office proposal for their drug rehabilitation participants to help the society by making blankets, society Executive Director Amy Carotenuto said.
"We have so many blankets donated that I asked if they would consider the kitten foster program," she said. "We always have so many orphans that our staff and volunteers are constantly taking babies home and often staying up during the night bottle feeding. ... It's a tremendous help for us and the kittens are getting spoiled and loved — and our staff is getting to sleep."
Inmates at Flagler County's Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility cuddle kittens as part of a new foster program launched with the Flagler Humane Society.
For more information or to adopt a kitten, contact the society at 1 Shelter Drive, Palm Coast; (386) 445-1814; or info@flaglerhumanesociety.org or go to flaglerhumanesociety.org.
bcravey@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4109
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Inmates and homeless kittens build new lives together in Flagler jail
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