TEHACHAPI, Calif. (KGET) — Dogs in prison are not a common sight, but for these inmates, it’s a small step to feeling normal again.

“When I got here, I’d been in prison for 30 years, I hadn’t touched a dog, I hadn’t heard a dog bark,” Oscar Cristales. “It kind of made me feel like I was on the streets.”

Dogs who were set to be euthanized are rescued by Marley’s Mutts, then paired with inmates who train them at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.

The program, Pawsitive Change, brings routine and responsibility to inmates.

“My life is scheduled around the dogs,” Cristales said. “I get up at 5:30 … 6 o’clock we’re out the door, walk the dogs, come in and feed them and walk them.”

Some dogs come in aggressive, frightened, even sick. The rehabilitation journey goes both ways.

“They don’t know what crime I committed — they don’t care,” Cristales said. “We give them a second chance just like they’re giving us a second chance.”

“Soon after I began this program I started realizing that this program entailed a lot more than dog training,” said Hector Manriquez. “It taught me a lot about relationships, how to develop a healthy relationship.”

The Pawsitive Change program teaches lifetime lessons.

“I understand, finally, the harm I caused to society, my community,” Manriquez said. “Sorry is never going to be enough. I get it. When I re-enter society again, I’m going to earn that trust back.”

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Through the program, Cristales says he’s ready for what’s next.

“In two months I should be going home after 33 years in prison,” Cristales said.

“I want to see the ocean. I want to just stand on the shore, and let the sun just hit me, and then just stand barefoot on the sand. Life could be so simple if we could just see life through the eyes of a dog. Now I understand when people say ‘It’s a dog’s life.’ I wish I had a dog’s life.”

For more information about Marley’s Mutts, Pawsitive Change, or if you want to adopt or foster a dog, click here.

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