Indiana State Prison is a maximum security prison established in 1860 with an average inmate population of 1,865 (all men) & also houses Indiana death row offenders. In case you need me to spell it out for you, that means the offenders housed at ISP aren’t in there because of a few bar fights.
Let me tell you a story about this prison… About 10 years ago a guard was killed there & the inmates spent the next 9 months in lockdown. When it was over, one offender discovered that the stray cat he’d found wandering into the prison & that he had been keeping as a pet (hiding it in his cell) all this time had given birth. Keeping one cat hidden was obviously plenty of work, but now there were more; so, he decided to offer her kittens to his fellow inmates. One of those kittens, which would later be named Sheeba, was adopted by an inmate by the name of Dan Milne. When he got her, she was still so small that both she & another of her siblings could fit together in a coffee cup. Having to keep her a secret, Milne “nursed” Sheeba by letting her suck on a milk-soaked rag. He didn’t know it at time, but Sheeba was going to change his life.
It didn’t take long, of course, for the guards to suspect that the prisoners were up to something & found out about the cats. They informed the inmates that they would be given ONE chance to come forward with their contraband cat & if they did so each would be allowed to keep it. The men were skeptical; wondering why the guards & the administration would be willing to let a bunch of convicts keep cats; but they knew they had no choice & would have to take their chances & confess. To their delight, the authorities were true to their word & gave the men & their feline charges the amnesty promised. The cats were allowed to stay & the pilot program at the Indiana State Prison began. Today there are about 30 cats residing at the prison & there are plans to allow 10 more very soon.
You might be wondering how I know all of this. Well, I was interested & since I am an official member of the press, I called the prison & asked a lot of questions. I was then given permission to interview Offender Dan Milne who, along with a couple of gentlemen that help run the place, told me the story. Being a busy body, I of course, had more questions & Mr. Milne was happy to answer them.
If you’d like a little background on Offender Daniel Milne, here you go. He’s from Highland, Indiana, has been incarcerated since 1989 & came to reside in Indiana State Prison in 1990. He is scheduled to be released in 2049. His parents are from Scotland & he has siblings. When he arrived in prison he didn’t care about anything or anyone very much; not even himself. He told me that he arrived with the attitude of not caring what happened to him or how his time in prison would be spent. Milne knew he’d be there for a very long time & figured it didn’t matter what he did from that point on. Then Sheeba came into his life & everything changed. He had something in his life that mattered & an incentive to “be good”, to stay out of trouble & to be responsible for her. He had something to care about & that cared about him. He had something to love & something to love him. He considers Sheeba his “little angel”.
The inmates that have animals have some extra rules to follow as well. They must pay for the animal’s expenses. That includes the $65 adoption fee that the shelter charges, food, cat litter, spay/neutering, vaccines & the cats general health care expenses. Even though there is a local veterinarian that provides these services for a much reduced fee, saving for any “extras” is difficult when your monthly income ranges from $25 - $40. Obviously, keeping one’s job in the prison is an imperative requirement if an offender wants to hang on to his feline friend. The other main rule that must be followed is that the inmate must stay out of trouble. An excellent incentive, according to Milne, “to stay on the strait & narrow”. Conversely, the prison administration sees giving the offenders this particular incentive to be well behaved has been successful at keeping everyone calmer & safer.
So what’s life like for Sheeba in prison? Pretty darn good, actually. She gets everything she needs & someone to devote every waking moment to her & her needs. Everything Dan Milne has is wrapped up in that cat & she is very well taken care of. There is very little to distract her owner from her. I imagine a cat in her situation might have it better than most cats on the “outside”. Who of us can devote as much time & thought to our pets?
Sheeba knows how to handle herself in the “pen” as well. Dan told me for example, that Sheeba has a “three stroke limit” when anyone pets her (other than Dan, of course). Should the petting exceed the three strokes she’ll tolerate, the petter will receive a warning “nibble”; those failing to heed her warning, Dan says “will be wearing a ‘cat mitten’.” Sheeba also has a bit of an ego. At 15 ˝ lbs. she’s not a petite kitty & seems a bit sensitive about it. Milne says she not fat, just big boned & according to Sheeba, not a soul may say otherwise. He claims that she literally takes offense to the other inmates teasing her about her weight. Girls always have a way of letting guys know when their feeling are hurt, don’t we? Besides, who would ever dare discuss a lady’s weight in public?
Not only will you find that the cat-owning inmates feel that having a feline companion has a positive effect on them, but they see the positive effect the cats have on the rest of the population as well. The prison staff agrees & intends to continue the program as long as it stays that way.
