Inmates Help Dogs Find New Homes

Six dogs found new homes and six families found new companions this weekend thanks to a program at Two Rivers Correctional Institution.

The Rehabilitating Offenders and Canines program – dubbed “From No House to the Big House to Your House” – takes stray animals and allows inmates to train and care for the pets so they will be ready for adoption.

Saturday, TRCI hosted a meet-and-greet for the dogs, and all six were adopted.

“It went very well,” Diana Fogg, program committee member said. “It was a big success. What we look for is to get all the dogs adopted, and we did.”

In the program, the dogs are brought to TRCI. They have kennel and yard facilities and are assigned a team of three inmates. The primary care inmate picks up the dog in the morning, and it stays with an inmate all day until being returned to the kennel in the evening.

The inmates work with a trainer weekly, and at the end of the program, the dogs are given a test to see if they are ready for adoption.

The six dogs in the first class – Zoey, Mister, Coco, Trixy, Bear and Duke – each completed the 10-week training program, and all six passed the test.

“The dogs, they come in here not with much training and they leave here calm and confident, and it’s very rewarding seeing that whole process. It has been really great,” Fogg said. “I have seen dramatic changes in the inmate handlers and even the inmates that just get to have exposure to the dogs. It’s a win-win for both our dogs and our inmates.”

All dogs are spayed or neutered and have all vaccinations.

Fogg said TRCI will continue the program and expects to pick up the next class of dogs in June.