Editor’s Note: The following information was provided by the Chillicothe Correctional Center.
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Hope can come in a lot of ways: the miracle of a new baby, rainbows, weddings, heaven, a beautiful sunset and….prison? Hope has come to Chillicothe Correctional Center in the form of dogs.
The Puppies for Parole program has been adopted by Director of Department of Corrections George Lombardi. Puppies for Parole is a unique program made possible through our partnerships with animal shelters and animal advocate groups statewide. Selected offenders have the opportunity to become trainers to rescue dogs in the program.
Offenders work with the dogs teaching them basic obedience skills and properly socializing the animals, making them more adoptable. Once the dogs have successfully completed the program they will be sent back to their original shelter to be placed up for adoption. Last year in Missouri, more than 46,000 homeless canines were euthanized. Puppies for Parole hopes to reduce that number by producing loving, obedient, adoptable dogs.
The benefits of this program are three-fold. Puppies for Parole gives offenders the skills necessary to support successful rehabilitation, reentry, ultimately improving public safety. At the same time, this is an opportunity for the offenders to re-pay Missouri communities and repair some of the debts caused by their crimes.
“We have seen this program have a profound effect on the inmates and staff, increasing the safety and security of the facility,” Lombardi said. “The hope that comes from this program is great. The offenders find hope in training and nurturing a living creature, which they might have never had the luxury to do since most offenders participating in the program are long time or “life” offenders. The community finds hope in the program by seeing a great thing come from offenders and the good they are doing for the animal shelters by training the dogs in a loving way, in turn making the dogs more adoptable.”
“The dogs have a remarkable impact on MDOC offenders, improving offender behavior and giving offenders incentive to maintain excellent conduct records,” said Lombardi. “Offenders not directly involved in the program are showing responsibility and selflessness by donating to support our efforts. Staff morale is also enhanced by the presence of the dogs.”
The Puppies for Parole program at Chillicothe Correc-tional Center is set to kick off in early December. Three dogs will be participating from Forrest O’ Triplet Memorial Animal Shelter in Chillicothe and two dogs will be participating from Green Hills Animal Shelter in Trenton. This program is solely run on donations and participation from the animal shelter. No state of Missouri funds are used.
There are numerous items needed to make this program successful; dog food, collars, leashes, plastic containers, flea medicine, dog treats and toys, plastic grocery sacks, and of course money. Persons who would like to donate items or help in any way can contact Leslie Pateck at the Chillicothe Animal Shelter, 660-646-1006 or Nancy Owens at the Trenton Animal Shelter , 660-359-2700.
Donations may also be made by contacting Depart-ment of Corrections, Lenny Lenger, Comptroller, at PO Box 236, Jefferson City, MO 65102. More information is available on the DOC website: http://doc.mo.gov/division/dai/puppies.php.