A contact visit was not one of them.
Animals did not normally enter inmate visitation areas. Security procedures existed for obvious reasons.
So Jason kept the request simple.
He explained that his dog was being moved to a foster placement before his release.
He asked whether the rescue could bring Rusty to the public visitation side.
He did not ask to hold him.
He did not ask for special treatment.
He wrote:
I understand there has to be glass between us. I just want him to see me once before he goes.
The request eventually reached Deputy Thomas Keller.
Keller was fifty-seven and had worked for the sheriff's office for twenty-four years, twelve of them assigned primarily to courthouse and detention operations.
He was not known as sentimental.
Coworkers described him as steady, careful, and irritatingly unwilling to skip procedure even when everyone knew what the answer would probably be.
When Keller read Jason's request, he did not immediately approve it.
He checked.
That distinction would become important later.
First he spoke with the jail administrator.
Then he called Rebecca at Cedar County Animal Support.
“Is the dog current on vaccinations?”
“Yes.”
“Any aggression history?”
“No.”
“Bite history?”
“None.”
“How does he do around strangers?”
“Quiet. A little reserved.”
“Could you maintain control of him on the visitor side?”
“Yes.”
Keller asked how old Rusty was.
“Eleven, maybe twelve.”
There was a pause.
Then Keller asked why the dog was being moved.
Rebecca explained.
The conversation lasted less than seven minutes.
The official approval was for a short non-contact visit.
Glass between them.
No physical contact.
No guarantee beyond that.
Jason was told only that his request had been approved.
The visit would take place Tuesday afternoon.
He slept badly Monday night.
Not because he expected anything extraordinary.
Because he feared the opposite.
What if Rusty did not recognize him?
The thought embarrassed him.
He understood perfectly well that sixty-three days was not ten years. He understood that dogs often recognize familiar people after much longer separations.