Camden County Inmates To Train Service Dogs For Veterans

Inmates in Camden County are now training rescue dogs to to be matched with military veterans suffering from service-related conditions, county officials announced on Monday. The county corrections department is working with One Love Animal Rescue, to train and care for companion dogs to be adopted by veterans. The veterans for the program are chosen by the Office of Veteran Affairs, and the service dogs become the veterans’ permanent pets.

“The opportunity to have inmates participating and learning a new skillset that will ultimately benefit veterans is a home run for public policy, and it is critical that we continue to find more innovative ways to support both communities,” Camden County Freeholder Jonathan Young, liaison to the Department of Corrections, said. “This progressive idea will also assist us in finding forever homes for animals from our shelter population. The advantages gained by matching all of these disparate parts into a monolithic structure will be an improvement to the quality of life for our overall community.”

The dogs are being trained at the Camden County Correctional Facility in Camden. The first group of dogs will “graduate” from their training later this month. The pilot program is the first of its kind in the state, according to county officials, but there are animal training programs of this kind across the country.

In Washington State, all prisons operate some kind of animal training or adoption program, according to that state’s Department of Corrections. Four prisons in Washington have partnered with organizations that provide service animals to people with disabilities. Four correctional institutions in Massachusetts provide a program in which inmates train service dogs for military veterans in need.

“We know companion dogs can improve the quality of life for veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression,” State Sen. Jim Beach (D-6) said. “Creating a program that allows inmates to train these dogs for veterans will give them a chance to give back to the community in a meaningful way, but also to learn valuable skills as they prepare to re-enter society. At the same time, this kind of program will help to increase the availability of dogs for veterans in our state who are seeking them as a means of coping with combat-related disorders.”

Camden County Department of Corrections Director David Owens sees the program as an opportunity for the inmates, as well.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” Owens said. “We hope that this program will be that step to change training and continue an evolution in corrections for New Jersey. We know from the experience in other correctional institutions that this training partnership benefits the inmates, the dogs and the community.”

“We started promoting the program’s concept about two years ago,” One Love Chairman and co-founder Sherri Smith said. “Every local official we talked to enthusiastically embraced the idea and did whatever they could to move things forward. We owe a great deal of thanks to Camden County Freeholder Jeffrey Nash, Senator James Beach, Deputy County Administrator Holly Cass, and Camden County Corrections Director David Owens. All saw the potential of the program to save dogs, assist inmates, and help Veterans in need, and each one was instrumental in making this happen.”

Patch file photo