These dogs are helping inmates deal with their trauma and to become better parents.
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🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Because when you look in the face of a puppy, I mean, that's it right there.
00:05You melt like butter.
00:12You know, when these women come to jail, they don't come alone.
00:14When they come and sit before you, often, if they're mothers, they're really talking about their children.
00:24There's this sense of, already you failed as a human being, but now you're also failing as a mother.
00:31I had a lot of depression when I was incarcerated because I was separated from my children.
00:39My son informed me in the visiting room that he didn't want to leave.
00:43And it broke my heart because I didn't want them to leave.
00:47But the reality of it was that I was going back to a cell, and I was going to be left with my emotions.
01:01When you look at women in prison, they often have very high rates of substance abuse, mental health problems, also a lot of past trauma.
01:13What we really want to do is to add the component of animal-assisted therapy.
01:16Utilizing the dogs as a tool, as a way to help the women to open up, to relax, to talk, and to be able to effectively communicate and process the trauma that they've been experiencing.
01:30Because when you look in the face of a puppy, I mean, that's it right there. You melt like butter.
01:41And these women would have that to look forward to. In that moment, they would love that and not worry about the cares of the world.
01:49And if they can gain anything that's positive and anything that can change their lives around, and they can really learn how to do it differently for their children, then we can have a positive impact, not only in this, but in the future generations.