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An innovative prison program matches shelter dogs with inmates, and both benefit.

Date published: 8/9/2003

Man's best friend, indeed

REJECTED, incarcerated, abandoned by family, hopelessly lonely--the life of a shelter dog is bleak indeed. As is the life of a prison inmate. Put the two together, though, and magic can happen.

Just ask Catherine Leach, executive director of Pen Pals, a program of Save Our Shelters, an animal-relief organization. Pen Pals has partnered with the Virginia Department of Corrections to match shelter animals with honor inmates in state prisons. The dogs, which live behind bars with the prisoners, receive five to six hours of training a day, and all the love and attention the inmates can give them. The result? An emotional connection that transcends the lockup.

"Jail is a harsh, sterile environment," says Ms. Leach. "Having the dogs in there relaxes everybody. It opens communication between staff members and the prisoners, and just does wonderful things."

The Virginia inmates agree. "Knowing where these dogs came from, it's sort of like where we come from. You see how successful they are out in the world and you think to yourself, 'If a dog can do it, so can I.' They give us a lot of pleasure, and hope," Melvin, an inmate dog trainer, reports on the organization's Web site.

The Pen Pals program addresses a fundamental question of the criminal-justice system: Will prisoners return to a life of crime once released? Pen Pals impacts inmates on two fronts: first, by providing job skills (dog training, grooming, and "animal technician" skills); second, and perhaps more important, by helping foster character change. Dog training requires patience, self-discipline, persistence, goal-setting, problem-solving, and, most of all, love--some of the very traits needed for prisoners to succeed once they hit the street.

Pen Pals is a good example of creative thinking and cooperation between a generally conservative prison system and an outside group. The program exemplifies restorative justice, redeeming prisoners by helping them make inner changes that facilitate a successful return to society. The dogs win big, too. Now well-behaved pets, they all have been adopted; their new owners are thrilled.

From their humble beginnings as scavengers cleaning up the camps to their current elevation as helpers and pets, dogs continue to prove their utility to mankind. In Virginia correctional institutions, thanks to Pen Pals, "dog days" are good days, indeed.

Date published: 8/9/2003