Paws On Parole
Published July 7th, 2012
They are ready for a home.
Puppies already vaccinated and trained...
But TV20's Stephanie Bechara tells us it's their trainers who may have been the ones who learned a lesson in second chances.
Matthew Howland says, "And we saw Ron on the TV20 pet of the week a couple of days ago and we went in to Alachua County Animal Services and we were lucky enough to find him."
Meet Ron.
Ron was part of a big litter... So big, his owners were forced to surrender a lot of their puppies.
This blackmouth cur with a little bit of coonhound mix was at the shelter for about a month, before he found a new home.
Thanks to a program pairing up inmates with pups...
"Paws on Parol" is a partnership between Florida Department of Corrections and Alachua County Animal Services that teaches inmates how to train dogs in basic obedience skills and socialization techniques.
Hillary Hynes, Alachua County Animal Services says, "They're wonderful companion dogs, they've learned to be with other dogs, with other people that don't necessarily like animals in prison."
The dogs train for eight weeks for eight hours everyday.
Once they've got it down they are up for adoption...
Just $45 includes a new best friend and vaccines.
Town and Country Veterinarians works closely with the program.
The owners, Mr. and Ms. Tomlin say they encourage this type of community work.
Terry & Heydi Tomlin: "When we heard about the 'Paws on Patrol,' it's such a win-win situation for everyone... The dogs, the new owners, the prisoners that train them, we just had to get on board with that."
A new batch of pups graduates this month on the 20th.
Stephanie Bechara, TV20 News.
Anyone can adopt one of these fully trained little guys...
to learn more about the adoption process you can click here.
