Would throwing a woman in jail for stealing prevent her from stealing again? The statistics tell us that prison is not only ineffective in stopping crime but actually increases the chances that the offender will commit more crimes.
But that’s only just part of the reason why Brayden Morton declined to press charges against the woman who stole his dog and instead paid for her to go to rehab.
The other part of the reason is that he had once been in her shoes. Morton suffered from fentanyl addiction for five years.
It took him 16 times to get clean.
But he did, and he wanted to give this woman that chance. Morton’s 3-year-old Chinese Shar-Pei, Darla, was stolen from his property while he was working in his home office.
The dog was hanging out on the deck when he heard the gate open.
When he looked outside, his dog was gone and he saw a blue Ford truck speeding away.
“I immediately started running after them,” Morton told The Washington Post. “They were gone. I couldn’t believe what had just happened.”
Morton called the police and was told to post about the missing dog on social media.
He put up a Facebook post and offered a $5,000 reward for Darla’s return.
Morton said he received thousands of tips. Most of them were just false excuses to get the reward money.
Eventually, he got a phone call from a blocked number.
“I picked it up and all I heard was what sounded like a young lady crying,” Morton told CNN. “I knew in my heart this person had Darla. I told her I wasn’t mad at her… and that I would grab the reward money and come to her.”
Though police offered to accompany him, Morton wanted to meet the woman alone so she wouldn’t be scared off by the police presence.
He was overjoyed to see his dog when he arrived at their meeting location.
“The moment I saw her I just ran to her and picked her up. It felt almost too good to be true,” Morton said. “She was so happy to see me. We were so happy to see each other.”
He could immediately see that the woman had a drug addiction and told her that he forgave her and he was once in the same situation.
But he wasn’t about to give her that reward money knowing she was going to blow it on drugs. Instead, he asked her if he could pay for her to go to rehab.
Morton didn’t want to see this woman go down the same path he did. In the midst of his addiction, he ended up working as a drug dealer and was shot and stabbed.
He once escaped death with a machete lodged in his head.
“I needed to get high so I wouldn’t get dope sick. It’s the worst fear of any fentanyl addict, trying to quit and dealing with the withdrawal symptoms,” Morton said. “That’s where I was at in life.”
Unfortunately, the girl who stole his dog canceled her trip to rehab three times.
Still, he’s not giving up.
“I did the same thing before,” Morton said. “It’s not an easy thing to do, going to rehab, but I’m not going to give up on her. She knows this offer will always be here, whenever she is ready to go, it’s paid and it’s a done deal.”
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