The Humane Society of Valdosta/Lowndes County is teaming up to create a jail dogs program, according to WALB.
They partner with Hamilton Correction Facility in Jennings, Florida to train rescued dogs, preparing them for successful adoptions.
The program is called “Hamilton Hounds, New Leash On Life”.
The humane society gets the dogs from Lowndes County Animal Shelter, then they pair them with two inmates and stay partnered for 10 weeks.
“It’s really focused on giving the dogs the best chance, helping Lowndes County Animal Shelter with euthanasia rates, and helping them to be able to out as many animals as possible and the handlers also get the benefit of working with the dog,” said [Humane Society Lead Dog Handler Tori] Grindle.
Those benefits include life-long animal advocacy, education, and experiences.
It also helps provide emotional and mental health benefits for the inmates.
“One of the inmate handlers for one of the dogs was telling me just how everything felt different. He felt like a human being for the first time in a long time and that’s huge. This place is heartbreaking and for them to have this to wake up to every day,” said Grindle.
On graduation day, families will visit the prison, meet the handlers and learn everything the dog has been taught.
Grindle and Rooney hope the program continues to expand and be able to save more dogs.
If you’re interested in adopting one of the dogs in the program, a pre-adoption event will be happening soon.
You can learn more about the program and meet the dogs. It’ll be announced on the Humane Society’s Facebook Page.
The following dogs from the Humane Society of Valdosta/Lowndes County are not graduates of the jail program, but are fine best friends nonetheless.
Comments ( 0 )