KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Man's Best Friend Helps Inmates At Hutchinson Correctional Facility
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by Kara Sewell (HUTCHINSON, Kan.)
The commands are basic. The training is anything but.
Hutchinson Correctional Facility's newest class is also one of the toughest.
Inmate Michael Tharp is one of a handful of inmates who signed up for the challenge.
They're a part of CARES Canine Assistance Program, which places dogs into homes of people with disabilities.
During the training dogs never leave the inmates side. They sleep, eat, exercise and play with their inmate everyday.
There are sixty-five commands inmates have to teach them. Inmates say they just pick one and start working on the command and when the dog has mastered it, they just move on down the line.
Only model inmates can be a part of the cares program, that means they can have no disciplinary problems. being a part of this training program is a privilege.
None of the inmates has lost that privilege, they say it's because it means so much to them.
Inmate Charles Hollingsworth says the program has made him grow as a person.
As inmates move forward, so do the dogs. Graduation means inmates have to give them up.
Charles Hollingsworth's dogs were placed last month. Despite the loss, he says he ready for round three.
"I think there is nothing more I can do while I am in here except to give something back to the community cause I've taken so much from it," says Charles Hollingsworth.
And he can't think of a better way.
Since all the dogs are still puppies, they only learn for about twenty minutes at a time before needing to rest.
After being placed in a home, the dogs will come back to the prison to brush up on manners and learn more advanced commands.
The program runs solely off donations, if you would like to donate you can mail a check or money order to:
Attn: HCF C.A.R.E.S. Program
P.O. Box 314
Concordia, KS. 66901
