California Prison Dog Programs - The Power of Unconditional Love
Valerie Cartonio
Prison POD podcast to Save Lives, Restore Hope, Reduce Suffering and Recidivism
KEITH ERICKSON
"Who would've ever imagined. Convicted felons, many serving life sentences, would ever be entrusted with raising and caring for sheltered rescue dogs."
Valerie Cartonio - Producer/Host Prison POD Productions
I met Keith a while back now. I was aware of his work as a dog trainer. I now know that they refer to him as "The Dog Whisperer". I have been told he can work miracles with the dogs that are found to be almost impossible to earn their trust.
Keith brought to me an idea to do a piece about the Second Chance Canine Program of Wiley's Wish Animal Rescue. Weeks later, I receive multiple texts messages, which included a script, questions to ask, people to speak with and an outline that was impressive! I was floored when I saw what his real idea was...Now, I am in the midst of collecting stories which will include 5 dog handlers currently incarcerated in California; 3 former lifers who are now out, & who worked with the dog program. We will speak with the manager of Reentry and Rehabilitation Compassion Prison Project, and with Wiley's Wish Rescue. To top this all off - we will hear from family members of the dog handlers about how the program has affected their loved one.
So far I have received about 20 photos from the prison and of the dogs and their handlers. I hear the families will be sending more.
I am really excited about this project, which will end up being a short YouTube film production!
Thank you Keith for the idea and all the work and organization you did to put this in motion. Without his genius behind this, it would never have come together!
Professor of Forensic Psychology
8 个月Hopefully the potential of dog training programmes in prisons will be more fully realised in the U.K. progress seems piecemeal.