About Us

The Prison Pet Partnership Program gives inmate trainers the opportunity to learn valuable pet industry-related vocational skills to use in finding employment when they resume their lives outside of prison. All inmate employees have the opportunity to work toward Pet Care Technician Certification, levels One and Two, through the American Boarding Kennels Association. All of the inmates who have graduated from our program have found employment upon release. Additionally, over the past five years, the recidivism rate among the graduates has remained at zero.

In addition to training, boarding, and grooming dogs, inmates also gain clerical skills by working in our office. To ensure that they receive ample experience in the pet care industry, inmate employees are required to spend a minimum of two years with us. The dogs also spend a great deal of time with their inmate trainers within the prison community, allowing other inmates to benefit from the dogs' presence even without being directly involved in the program.

We work proactively to respond to the needs of individuals who experience seizures, those who live with various illnesses such as Multiple Sclerosis, and those who have multiple disabilities, by providing well trained dogs to assist them in their daily activities and give them increased independence. According to Assistance Dogs International, the cost of providing high quality training for Service/Seizure Response/Therapy Dogs is approximately $10,000 per animal. It takes approximately eight months to train these dogs, and only one out of every 15 to 20 dogs selected for our program has the intelligence and temperament necessary to become a Service or Therapy Dog.

All of the animals in the program are taken from animal rescue organizations, allowing them to lead lives of service rather than be destroyed. Program dogs that lack the necessary temperament to be trained as Service or Therapy animals are trained in basic obedience skills that allow them to be placed in the community as "Paroled Pets."

Although part of the agency's funding support is derived through a contract with the Department of Corrections, the program is primarily supported by foundations, animal welfare organizations, and by individual donors. A boarding and grooming service for the local community also provides the program with sustaining funding support.

An active policy making volunteer Board of Directors monitors our programmatic progress in cooperation with the program staff. Approximately 20 volunteers currently assist us by taking the dogs out into the community for important socialization training prior to placement with their recipients. This training includes such things as learning to accompany their recipients into elevators, restaurants, doctor's offices, grocery stores, and other public facilities.

Studies on the human/animal bond have reached the not surprising conclusion that humans benefit from the unqualified love and acceptance that only animals can provide. Animals need to be loved in return. The shared bond between our dogs, their trainers, and above all, their eventual owners provides a feeling of satisfaction that directly contributes to the mental and physical wellness of all who are involved.

This is the essence of what the Prison Pet Partnership Program has provided over the years to the inmates who work with the dogs, the dogs who are given the chance to lead lives of service, and the children, women, and men with disabilities who receive the well trained dogs that enhance the quality of their lives.

For more information view our History and Mission pages.