Clallam Bay Prison Dog Training Program
Thanks to Prisoners, These Dogs Are Getting a Second Chance at Life
Clallam Bay Corrections Center in Northern Washington is, first and foremost, intended to rehabilitate human criminals. However, thanks to a program sponsored by the Welfare For Animals Guild (WAG), it has also become a place for bite-prone and "unadoptable" dogs to find a second chance. Since its inception in 2012, the WAG Prison Training Program has helped to rehabilitate more than 200 canines, giving inmate volunteers a sense of purpose in the process.
"There may be no better place for bite-prone animals to receive the constant care they need to break out of their own prisons," reports Peninsula Daily News of the program. In it, prisoners work with troubled dogs day and night to help them let go of fear and aggression, keeping their furry companions with them at all times, during daytime walks and bathroom breaks in the prison yard and in their cells at night. The participating inmates also meet with WAG trainers weekly so that they can learn the proper skills for teaching the dogs love and obedience.
"I'm finally creating positive stuff instead of just negative, destructive things."
"After seven to eight weeks, the dogs 'graduate' from the program and are then adopted to their forever families," says the WAG website. Though, the website notes, some dogs need more time before they're able to pass an American Kennel Club obedience test, which means more time with their prison foster dads.
WAG notes one specific inmate named Gilbert, who is serving life in prison without parole, as a massive asset to the program. "He was instrumental in establishing our 'Puppy Preschool' program," writes the foundation's website, "Where the puppies are kept together with their litter, learn potty training, leash training and socialization skills until they are old enough to be adopted."
More than four years later, during a reunion with 156 adult dogs and 73 puppies successfully adopted because of the training program, other inmates shared how the Prison Training Program changed their lives alongside the dogs'. "I'm finally creating positive stuff instead of just negative, destructive things," one participant, who makes $0.42 per hour as a trainer, told Peninsula Daily News of his experience. "It's helped with my ability to communicate with others, and I've become more compassionate."
"I spend more time with these dogs than any person I have in my life."
"The dogs have taught me how to rediscover bonding again," said another. "I spend more time with these dogs than any person I have in my life."
Even the prison staff sees the positive effects of the training program. Superintendent Ronald Hayes told the local news outlet that training the dogs "takes them [the inmates] away from the prison life and gives them a purpose." Because of this one initiative, both dogs and felons are learning what it means to have a second chance at life.
The WAG Prison Training Program shows no sign of slowing down, with all the dogs that have graduated the program being successfully placed with adoptive "forever homes." After each inmate trainer sees their canine counterpart through to the end, it can get emotional, but there are always new dogs that need a loving instructor.
What about cat-lovers, you might ask? Well, apparently the program has begun testing training with feline participants as well. After being leash and clicker-trained by inmates in one of the Clallam Bay wards, they'll also be placed with adoptive homes.
Check out touching photos of the emotional reunion between adopted dogs and their former trainers at Clallam Bay Corrections Center, and learn how to support WAG's important work on its website.
