Urban Tails is a program that allows at-risk, incarcerated youth in residential treatment facilities the ability to rehabilitate homeless shelter dogs and then place the dogs in their permanent homes. In doing so, program participants learn empathy, personal awareness, responsibility, career development skills and positive community involvement through the care, training and rehabilitation of the dogs they rescue.  The similarities of the lives of at-risk youth and homeless shelter dogs provides the perfect vehicle for self-discovery and the vulnerability of self-expression.