State women’s prison to begin pilot dog training program
Beginning July 1, the maximum-security prison will be the first site for Puppies Accomplishing Worthy Service, or PAWS, a dog-training program that eventually may involve prisons across the state.
Through PAWS, four puppies from the Nashville Humane Association will be assigned to eight inmates, who will be charged with training and caring for the dogs. Four inmates will be primary trainers, responsible for the daily tasks of training and grooming, while the remaining four will serve as secondary trainers.
Both trainers, who will learn dog training from volunteers from the Humane Association and PetSmart, will live in the same cell with their dog. Once training is complete, the dogs will return to the Humane Association for adoption.
“It’s going to teach them (inmates) positive reinforcement, how to care for and about something else,” said Tennessee Prison for Women Warden Cherry Lindamood. She also believes disciplinary infractions among the inmate population will go down as a result of the program.
PAWS began in Ohio in 1991 and now is in each of that state’s 33 prisons, said Andrea Dean, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Corrections.
“The program is a rehabilitative tool helping inmates realize they can be responsible and take care of one thing,” Dean said.
Candace McCarter, 28, is one of 15 Tennessee Prison for Women inmates interested in participating in PAWS.
“I’ve been in a lot of trouble since I’ve been here,” said McCarter, who has served eight years of a 30-year sentence for facilitation of murder. “For me, this is an opportunity to do something good. When you have a charge like I do, there’s really no restitution I can make.
“This is something I can do that will allow me to give something back to somebody.”
Officials with Chattanooga’s Humane Educational Society say they would like to see a similar program started for long-term inmates at the Silverdale Detention Center here.
“There is a strong indication that people who are abusive to animals are abusive to people,” said volunteer Gary Martin. “If you can show them the unconditional love of an animal, they may treat people better.”
Christina Young, spokeswoman for Silverdale, said Corrections Corporation of America, the Nashville-based management company overseeing Silverdale, would “definitely be interested” in a program such as PAWS.