LogFAQs > #971869878

I was wondering how much of a help pets are to prisoners and was curious if prisons allow pet management as some form of rehabilitation in the US. I was surprised to find out that they do. I imagine for a bunch of people who don't get treated as people it's an immense help to be able to take care of a life and form a bond that still anchors them to society and instills beliefs in them rather than just throwing them to the side and forgetting about them forever.

There's apparently dog training programs for prisoners to train dogs and those dogs get given to those who need service animals. Because well they only have all the time in the world, they're able to stimulate and train the dogs for exactly what they need.

https://neads.org/training-placement/prison-pup-program/

I thought it was neat, because I imagine in a prison just the presence of an animal to take care of and play with can really help change the mental health of at least some prisoners for the better.