Prison Pet program prepares for graduation

Hugh McMillan

special to the Gateway

The Prison Pet Partnership Program at the Washington Corrections Center for Women went through final training sessions last week at St. Anthony Medical Center for clients who will soon be given custody of trained service dogs.

The consummation of weeks of training of the service dogs by WCCW inmates, along with their intended recipients, was scheduled for graduation ceremonies in early May.

The program successfully rescues potential service dogs from animal rescue centers, where they might be victims of euthanasia if not adopted. The animals are taken to the WCCW, where qualified inmates, taught to train service dogs, take on the task of training them to meet the needs of and assist those with disabilities.

In the course of the training process, intended recipients of the dogs are trained with them under the guidance of volunteer trainers, who take them on public transportation into crowded shopping centers, elevators, movie theaters and a plethora of other exposures to hone the skills of both the recipients and the service dogs.

The program’s major fundraising effort to support this activity is its “Bark and Bid” auction, which will be held at 4 p.m. May 31 at the Best Western Wesley Inn, 6575 Kimball Drive in Gig Harbor.

Tickets in advance are $35 or $40 at the door, space permitting. For information, call 253-549-7370 or e-mail barkandbid@yahoo.com.