To the Editor,

Thanks for the Wednesday, June 29, edition front-page notice about Ben, the Lab mix at Beaufort County Animal Control, who was waiting to be adopted. When I later stopped at the shelter for a progress report, I was delighted to find that he had left late that morning to join a new home. I looked into the history of the prison-based training programs that turn out dogs like Ben and was knocked out by what I discovered.

Beaufort County Animal Control is partnered with the Craven County Correctional Institute in this program, New Leash On Life, that utilizes inmate trainers who provide eight weeks of basic canine obedience training in preparation for adoption. BCAC sends two dogs to the program every two months. Dogs selected for the program are spayed or neutered, examined and treated for any health issues and given all required inoculations. The training includes basic obedience, house training and socialization.

New leash On Life is North Carolina’s title for its program that includes 20-plus state prisons and correctional facilities. (1,231 North Carolina dogs have graduated as of March 2011). North Carolina is one of 20-plus states nationwide that have similar projects. The USA is one of many countries that have discovered the huge benefits of such efforts. Dogs are getting a new leash on life in Canada, Europe, Australia and, yes, Formosa. There are probably more.

All of this most likely began at the Washington State Correctional Institute for Women in 1971. Sister Pauline Quinn, a Dominican nun, conceived and developed a program in which inmates trained dogs to be service seizure alert dogs for the disabled. The training ran from eight to 12 months and was the first of its kind anywhere. Today, dogs are trained in prisons worldwide as service dogs for the disabled and handicapped, or as wonderful additions to families.

Back home here in Beaufort County, we have Ben, a success story as of Wednesday 6/29/2011. There are currently two more dogs-in-training, Max and Rascal, who will graduate this month. They would love to present their diplomas to new owners.

Information on these guys should shortly appear on BCAC’s Facebook page, Beaufort County Animal Control. You can call BCAC at 946-4517, or visit at 3931 U.S. Highway 264 East. Call for hours.

ANTHONY PRICE
Bath