The Washington Post: When Pet Owners Are Jailed, Shelter Programs Step in to Help - The Bail Project

Donate to reunite a family today.

A family like Sandra’s. Read her story below.

test

Donate to bring someone home today.

Someone like Robert. Read his story below.

test

Donate to pay someone’s bail today.

Someone like Michael. Read his story below.

test

Donate to pay someone’s bail today.

Someone like Ashley. Read her story below.

test

Donate to bring someone home today.

Someone like Sherry. Read her story below.

test

This feature in The Washington Post explores how even brief jail stays can create far-reaching disruptions, including separating people from their pets. It recounts the story of a Bail Project client whose dog was taken into a shelter after her arrest, illustrating how inability to afford release can set off cascading consequences well beyond the criminal case. The article also points to a broader shift among advocates toward keeping families – human and animal – intact whenever safely possible, rather than defaulting to separation through incarceration.

Thank you for your valuable attention. The urgency and complication of the cash bail crisis requires meaningful participation to create real change – change that is only achieved through the support of readers like you. Please consider sharing this piece with your networks and donating what you can today to sustain our vital work.

a man in a suit and glasses in front of a transparent background
Director of Communications and Publications

Jeremy Cherson

As the Director of Communications and Publications, Mr. Cherson directs the organization’s communications, earned media and public relations, internal communications, and publications strategies. With more than fifteen years of experience in criminal justice reform, community-based research, government operations, and research and project management, Mr. Cherson joined The Bail Project in 2020 as the Senior Policy Advisor, where he helped develop the organization’s policy team and oversaw several state and local-level advocacy campaigns. Before The Bail Project, Mr. Cherson served in several positions within the de Blasio administration at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, where his work included the development of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety, a citywide community safety intervention grounded in the principles of participatory justice and where he also led the DOJ-funded Smart Defense Initiative to improve the administration and oversight of New York City’s Assigned Counsel Plan. He received a B.S. in film and television from Boston University and an M.P.A. in public and nonprofit management and policy from New York University.