WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Prisoners and shelter dogs: a bond behind bars


Prison inmates and shelter dogs have a few things in common, including living behind iron bars and dreams of a normal life at home, with family.

There’s a great story in The Peninsula Daily News which shows how prisoners in Forks are training dogs from local shelters. The dogs live with two inmates, in their cell, and are trained to be more adoptable.

Here’s the key part of that story:

Handling dogs is a privilege that can be lost through violations by the handler. Travis Boyer passed all of the requirements and was introduced to Cloudy.

The dog program has grown from being a few dogs in one housing unit to dogs currently residing in all three units.

There may be 15 dogs and 30 handlers working the program at any given time.

“It seems like everybody wants to be a handler,” said handler Chris Hansford, hanging onto the leash of Buddy, a golden retriever.

… Sometimes, the men write open letters telling the future owner the dog’s particular likes and unique attributes they have noticed. OCC staff notice changes in the units when dogs are introduced. … The lines between different residents are broken down because, as offenders get to know the various dogs, they also come to know the different handlers.

“The dogs help us develop relationships with each other,” said Travis Jackson, the handler watching over Copper, a mini-pincer mix.

Victory for the dog and the program is adoption.

Cloudy found a home, and Boyer is still helping dogs learn to be better citizens.

Olympic Corrections Center has partnered with the local humane society on this program since 2010.

This idea is working in every corner of Washington state.

Six different prisons have dog programs aimed at training shelter dogs to make them more adoptable.

Five facilities do a more intense training, turning shelter dogs into service animals to help people with disabilities.

And two prisons have programs for shelter cats, taking ones that are too timid, unfriendly or possibly dangerous and socializing them. Trained kittens and cats are then returned to the shelter to get adopted.