- May 9, 2024
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Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Jordan, Rebeca and their new pup Max pose after the ceremony. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Rebeca pets Max and new owner Jordan looks forward . Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Brittany shows pictures of her dog which is also a graduate from the program. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Brittany has provided loving homes to two dogs from the program. She is adopting one more today. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Brittany welcomes Sadie in a cold day. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
Brittany and new pet Sadie which is 13 years old. Photo by Paola Rodriguez
When Anthony Annatone was an inmate, he became a part of a program called Prison Pups N Pals, which is run through a partnership between the Tomoka Correctional Institution and the Halifax Humane Society.
For 36 weeks, Annatone trained shelter dogs that came in from the Humane Society and would spend time in obiendence classes in hopes of finding the dog a permanent home. Each dog he and another inmate trained spent 24 hours with them, even sleeping in the same area that their new trainers slept.
Annatone's last Prison Pups N Pals graduation took place in 2016 when he went to work release.
Now, Annatone is the house manger at a non-profit in Port Orange and has his own dog, Layla, who he has worked with using the skills he learned while in the program.
"Prison's hard, obviously, and you feel like you don't have a sense of self worth," Annatone said, adding that the program gave him "a life skill when I got out on my own. This gives you a little bit more freedom and a little more self-worth that you're doing something not only for yourself but out in the community."
On Wednesday, Jan. 17, another group graduated from the Prison Pups N Pals program marking 45 graduating classes, according to Barry KuKes, Halifax Humane Society community outreach director.
The program has been running for eight years. The Humane Society and Florida Department of corrections have also been working with Paws of Freedom to help veterans, many of whom are working through post-traumatic stress disorder.
Each class is provided with 12 dogs that are trained throughout the course of approximately seven weeks. Dogs and their trainers have a one-hour class together where the animals learn basic commands such as sit, stay and come.
By the end of the program, trainers are given certificates for training and, according to KuKes, most, if not all, of the dogs have homes to go to.
"It's a win-win," KuKes said. "The inmates have a purpose and the dogs are also learning additional behaviors so they're more adoptable."
Officer Gail Irwin, the program coordinator, said the program doesn't only give the dogs a second chance at life, it gives the inmates another chance as they learn reentry skills.
"It's just a pretty good program all the way around, for the dogs, for the inmates, for the veterans and for the whole compound," Irwin said.
