July 1st, 2025 by WCBC Radio

West Virginia prisons are getting involved in training assistance dogs. Incarcerated men and women can participate in the “paws4prisons” program, learning how to train service dogs. The inmates teach basic and advanced commands to rescue dogs who then graduate to further training. Amanda Rubenstein with the Division of Corrections says the dogs have a positive impact…

   

“Even the facilities in general, the other inmates that aren’t in the program have so much respect for it. We have inmates that haven’t petted dogs in years that come here, you know, ‘O my gosh, there’s dogs in prison.’ They may not want to be a part of the program, but they love interacting. They love the mission.”