Behind bars, death row pets get a second chance

This is just fantastic;

More than 100 dogs per year will be given a second lease at life thanks to inmates at the John Morony Correctional Complex.

NSW Minister for Corrective Services, Phillip Costa, joined Londonderry MP, Allan Shearan, to launch the initiative last week, which will see selected John Morony inmates assist in the rehabilitation of shelter dogs with social and behavioural problems.

The initiative follows the ‘Pups in Prison’ program that started in 2002, is the third canine program organised between the RSPCA and Corrective Services NSW.

The prisoners, who will study a certificate II in animal companion services, will be responsible for the care of the dogs and their training.

Each dog will go through a three-month training course, which will be supervised by RSPCA and prison staff, before being fostered out to a home.

Inmates also helped build the training centre, which includes 30 kennels, a vet room, a training room and an adoption centre.

Offering innovative behavioural rehabilitation for pets is a vital step to modern sheltering. The fact that the development of this program mean both the dogs win and the prison inmates win, shows that with the right leadership, shelters can go from a place where pets are summarily killed to a vital community service offering compassion and second chances.