PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A successful prison program is helping inmates get jobs when they’re released and saving the lives of shelter dogs by making them more adoptable.
Steven Morales, lead protection officer at ACCT Philly, the city’s animal care and control team service provider, is one of the program's success stories.
“We respond to calls with aggressive dogs a lot. I try to smooth talk them a little bit,” Morales said. “You got to be real patient, and you got to give them that, kind of, close to a baby voice a little bit, like, ‘Hey, buddy! Hey, buddy!’ You’ll be surprised — it really softens them up.”
When Morales was incarcerated at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia 11 years ago, he was enrolled in a program called New Leash on Life. Inmates live with dogs from the ACCT Philly shelter for several months, socializing and training the animals to obey basic commands like “sit,” “stay” and “lay down.”
It’s a win-win situation. The humans gain skills to help them get a job when they are released, and the trained shelter animals get a better chance at finding a forever home.
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“When I heard about it, I’m like: ‘Wait a minute. The dog is in the cell?’ And they’re like: ‘Yeah.’ And I’m trying to wrap my brain around it, and I’m like: ‘Cool let’s do it,’” Morales said.
He was paired with a dog named Pablo, and they lived in the same cell for several months.
“He knew how to sit. He knew how to give me his paw. He was a very hyper dog. So it took me a little more time than the rest of everyone else to get him to learn,” Morales said.
Pablo required a little bit more than sweet-talking.
“You have to have the right treats with him,” Morales said. “When I first started, I had the wrong treats. And then I figured out that he loves those bacon treats. Once I got my hands on them, I had him doing anything.”
When Morales got out of prison, he applied for a three-month internship at ACCT Philly. And then he was hired to perform various roles, from kennel attendant to behavior evaluator, before becoming a protection officer.
ACCT Philly has been providing dogs and job opportunities for graduates of the New Leash on Life Program since 2010.
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