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| Inmates at Jackson County Correctional Institute find purpose in working with service dogs |
| By chippewa.com- Emily Pyrek |
| Published: 05/30/2017 |
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BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Twenty-five inmates sat rapt at the edge of their seats as 10 rambunctious puppies came bounding into the Jackson Correctional Institute visitors room. Faces breaking into grins, the men reached out to greet the plucky pups who would be both their pupils and pals for the next year. The canine/prisoner partnership, a first for the medium-security Jackson Correctional Institute, was arranged through Can Do Canines, a New Hope, Minn., based nonprofit that trains dogs of all breeds and sizes to help people with mobility challenges, hearing loss, Type 1 diabetes, childhood autism or seizure disorders. The organization, formed in 1989, works with both volunteer puppy raisers and five other prisons in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and joined forces with Jackson Correctional at the request of warden Lizzie Tegels. Recently retired unit supervisor Steve Dougherty helped lay the groundwork. “The benefit and enticement for me in having a program like this in our facility is it opens a very different facet of rehab for our inmates,” Tegels said. “It has a calming affect ... and encouragement for good behavior. And to hire out (service dog) training for the duration is astronomically expensive.” Read More. |
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