San Quentin, California (AP) – hugs, tears, barking and tail that waved at San Quentin’s prison when two black labels reunited with the prisoners who helped them be a service dog.
The emotional gathering brought together Chase Benoit, Jared Hansen and the 2-year-old dogs, to which they helped to train: Wendel and Artemis. For the first time, they saw their former dog satellites again and for the first time they met personally with the heads of disabilities.
The Friday meeting at San Quentin’s main yard brought Benoit and Hansen Full Circle after helping to launch the prison puppy training program in April 2023.
“As I am in this program, he gave me something that I think I have been looking for my whole life,” says Benoit, who has been serving 15 years for a second -degree murder life. “And that was a meaningful goal, doing something that is good, better, bigger than I am, and I feel like part of something great.”
Robert Quigley, who is deaf, was torn apart after seeing his spiritualized dog, Wendel Lar, and excited when he saw Benoit, his old coach.
“He remembers me for sure, I could tell when he came in. I am so happy that you love him and that you have a relationship,” Benoit told Quili through a translator in American sign language.
“He is with me 24/7. He is very gentle and good with the people,” said Quigli, a recent college graduate who took Wendel home in November after the mix of Black Labrador and the Golden Retriever ended six months of vocational training outside prison.
Puppy teaching the basics in prison
Benoit and Jenson were part of the original group of four deprived coaches who shared their 4 legs with 10 legs with 4-month puppies. The men divided the responsibility of taking care and teaching dogs basic commands for one year.
Canine Companions, a non -profit goal with Santa Rosa, runs the program and provides free service dogs to people with disabilities. He has built the San Quentin’s program for 16 trainers and two dogs who are training eight puppies this week.
Artemis, a black Labrador, was combined with Benjamin Carter, a Portland veterinarian, an Oregon who uses a wheelchair, and travels to California for collection.
Like the proud parents, Carter and Hansen shared notes about Artemis’s calm and loving personality.
“Seeing it in action and actually serving someone in the community, just … I’m at a loss for words right now. It’s amazing!” said Hansen, who has been in prison for 15 years for the robbery of banks.
Artemis, or Arts, pushes doors, pulls things around the house and perform many other tasks that would only be difficult for Carter.
First works, then cuddles
“He is responsive when he works. He is fluffy when he is out of the clock. He is an incredible companion. And all this structure and love and trust is built by these guys here, so I am just very grateful to them,” Carter said.
Puppies stay with prisoners when dogs are between 2 and 4 months old and stay with them until they are about 16 to 17 months old. Every three months, puppies are removed for socialization experiences as interaction with children, driving in cars or going to the grocery store.
Men in liberty teach them about 20 skills, including extraction, sitting and walking a strap. After the dogs leave prison, they train for a few more months with professional trainers.
People deprived of San Quentin and participate in the program are convicted of crimes that include bank robberies, weapons crimes and murder. Only those who are in a “won live unit”, where residents participate in an array of self -help programs, have the right to apply for puppy training. Prisoners with records that include any crimes of cruelty to animals or children are not allowed to participate, said James Dern, national director of dog satellite puppies programs.
The value of time
Dern said that dogs trained in their prison programs have 10% more successful in getting dogs, than other candidates due to the weather and care that are worsened in deprived puppies, put into their dogs.
“To give something to take care of itself and the opportunity to come back and start making corrections for the things they have done in their lives can change life,” Dern said.
San Quentin has once been home to the largest population of death disputes in the United States. The puppy training program began the year in which it is transformed into a lock, where less dangerous prisoners receive education, training and rehabilitation. Since then, another 11 correctional facilities have joined the non -profit target for a total of 24 prison institutions, Dern said.
Speaking to a crowd in the chapel of prisons, assembled to celebrate the program, Benoit credit dog satellites, bringing out humanity, love and care in the deprivation community. “Instead of keeping it in their small community of professional trainers or even voluntary puppies, they shared this with us in prison and I think it’s huge,” he said.