Puppies for Parole

Puppies for Parole operates through our partnerships with animal shelters and animal advocate groups statewide. In Puppies for Parole, selected residents in Missouri prisons have the opportunity to become trainers to rescue dogs. Residents teach dogs basic obedience skills and socialize them, making them more adoptable. Once the dogs have successfully completed the program, they are adopted through their original shelters. Click the button to the right or this link to see available dogs all over Missouri.

The program saves dogs' lives, helping to find forever homes for abandoned and stray dogs. Since the program started in 2010, more than 7,000 dogs have graduated from training and have been adopted.

Resident dog handlers are enrolled in an apprenticeship program through the U.S. Department of Labor. Through formal training, individualized study and on-the-job training, residents earn a certificate in animal handling, which is recognized in all 50 states. Puppies for Parole gives residents the skills necessary to support successful rehabilitation and reentry, ultimately improving public safety. Participants have higher employment rates and lower recidivism rates after release. They also benefit from the opportunity to give back to Missouri communities. The program has a profound effect on inmates and staff, improving safety, security and morale in the facilities.

Puppies for Parole uses no general revenue and operates solely on private donations and fundraising within each institutional Puppies for Parole programs.

Benefits to the Community

• Reduces the number of Missouri dogs euthanized and living in animal shelters 
• Gives Missourians a chance to adopt family-friendly dogs

Benefits to resident Dog Handlers 

• Teaches vocational skills and responsibility
• Provides an opportunity to give back to the community and learn altruistic behavior
• Promotes mental health 

Benefits to Correctional Institutions

• Boosts staff and resident morale
• Provides an incentive for residents to modify their behavior
• Enhances safe environments in prisons
• Offers therapeutic support for residents with mental health issues or terminal illnesses

Puppies for Parole Book

Make a donation of $20 or more to Puppies for Parole, and get a copy for of the book Puppies for Parole: Rescue, Rehabilitation and Redemption in Missouri’s Prisons, written by Christine Bertelson and Photographed by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

 

Meet the amazing dogs, resident dog trainers and adopters who have made the Missouri Department of Corrections’ Puppies for Parole project one of the largest and most successful prison rehabilitation programs in the nation.

Rescued from lives of suffering and neglect, thousands of lucky dogs trained through this program have gone on to become service, support, search-and-rescue animals and loving family companions.

 

Read their stories in this heartwarming and beautifully photographed book. 100% of book proceeds will be used to support the program.

 

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