New York Times Features TDCJ Patriot Paws Program

 

Gatesville - In an article in today's New York Times by Sonia Smith, inmates from the Lane Murray Unit are featured in the Patriots Paws program that trains service dogs to perform basic task for disabled veterans. 

 

Dogs are trained to completed task such as  pulling up bed covers, retrieve a bottle from a refrigerator, pick up a wafer-thin credit card from the floor, and even help with the laundry by dropping soiled clothing in a washing machine and removing items from a dryer. Some can also remove shoes and socks and pull up a pair of trousers for a disabled person.

 

Training a service dog takes from 18 months to two years and, even with inmate labor, can cost up to $20,000.  In 2008, Patriot PAWS expanded its service dog training program to include a partnership with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).

As of a 2011 report, of the 21 women involved in the program that have been paroled, the recidivism rate was zero.

 

See featured article in the New York Times by clicking below:

New York Times - TDCJ Patriot Paws Program

A version of this article appears in print on March 23, 2014, on page A27B of the National edition.


For more information on the program: Click here for Patriots Paws Prison Program Information