This is the third piece in an ongoing series of short stories and poetry by the author, who reports
on his experiences being incarcerated. This reflection illustrates the devastating psychological
and behavioral impacts of incarceration by analogy to confined dogs.

(There is a person that has 3 dogs. There is no fence around the yard so when they go to work they lock the pit bulls in the basement so they won’t tear up the house.
They leave 3 bowls of food and water, a few toys to shake and they’re gone for the day.

Out of pure frustration and boredom the first thing they do is fight each other even though their plight was the homeowner’s choice, as if there was no one else to take it out on. Next they find that someone else, themselves.

The pitts begin demonstrating self-destructive behavior, breaking their teeth, biting wooden stairs, even eating through the furnace cord at risk of electrocution. They know the homeowner will beat them for this but they don’t care, in a desperate, psychological need for “something else”!

By this time they have been through this for so long they can feel when it’s time for the homeowner to come home. Their heart rate quickens as their blood begins to pump! Their pupils dilate, tails beginning to wag! On the days when the homeowner is late that energy becomes negative, leading to more fights, more destructive behavior, which will lead to more discipline

They hear a door close!

They’ve heard it a thousand times!

The front door opens and they drool at the mouth in excitement! The basement doorknob turns and the door comes ajar!!!

What do you think happens next?!

Three balls of energy explode from the darkness, jumping all over the owner covering them with poop as they were forced to walk in their own feces! They run amuck through the home leaving doo-doo paw prints as they commence daily operation destroy!!!

The homeowner screams and beats them after seeing the chewed up stair and furnace cord and the snake eats its tail.)

Today is Sat. Aug 16 2025. It is 93 degrees and the cell house has no A/C. H cell house hasn’t been to recreation since Tuesday!! It was supposed to be at 7:30 AM so just like those dogs we all felt it: heart rate quickening, pupils dilated, stretching to prepare for a fresh air jog. Now it’s 8:55 and you guessed it, rec is canceled!

Now there is no Sunday rec.
(Why I don’t know)!

We don’t have rec on this side on Mondays.
(Why I don’t know)!

So the next time we will possibly have recreation is Tuesday.

The water is infected with Legionella (which has killed many of us) so we’re not supposed to drink the sink water. We get 2 scoops of ice and we must wait till it melts so our drinking water is limited. Me personally, I dont sell drugs and I dont earn very much as a writer so I don’t have much food. The smell TU is the toy, just like the dogs.

The reason they give for no rec is one of many that never makes sense. They used to just say “short staff,” but the supreme court said that will no longer fly, so they say “the hot water is off” or “Sunday” or “holiday,” and many times, no reason at all!

The truth is, the officers don’t feel like dealing with 200 convicts out of their cages. The human part is rendered meaningless and chaos ensues.

You would think the dogs would say; “Let’s eat them when they come home for treating us this way”! You would assume the convicts, thugs and killers would say; “Lets stamp on these officers for this cruelty”!

But instead, just like the pitt bulls, the first thing we do is fight and hate one another, displaying our animality justifying our confinement. Then comes the self-hate.

(It is no strange happening that this prison has one of the highest suicide and overdose rates in the country!)

Society should fight for us to get 4 hours per day of recreation everyday for 3 main reasons. First, running out all of this energy leaves less energy to turn negative, creating a safer environment for administrative officials and C/Os. Secondly, it builds a sense of community, making it easier for the administration to enact positive policies improving corporate effectiveness and lastly, and most of all;

One day the basement door will come ajar and the dogs will be released.

(What do you think will happen next?!)

This is just another live, on the ground report, From the inside out!