Saturday, July 25, 2009

Prisons and Pounds













I got this email that talked about Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa county Arizona. He's the one that made the "Tent city" for inmates. I dont' really approve of most of his methods, but there was one idea in the email that sounded good to me. I did a google search to try to confirm it, but wasn't able to find any information about it. But I think this is a great idea.

The email said that the animal shelters in Maricopa county are now being run by prisoners. I think this is a great idea for several reasons. First of all,with so many prisoners, the animals would get more individual attention. The dogs could be walked daily. Most prisons have some kind of employment available for prisoners. They don't make much money, the email mentioned 28 cents an hour. I have a relative in prison right now who also has a job and makes not much more than that an hour. But the nice thing is that it gives the prisoners a chance to do something and to get out of their cells. I think the animal shelter could be very theraputic for prisoners. This arrangement would be mutually beneficial for both prisoners and the animals.

In addition, because the cost of caring for the animals would be reduced, the shelter wouldn't be forced to put down as many animals. Maybe prisoners could even do some basic training to make the animals more adoptable. It's a win, win situation! I don't know for sure if Sheriff Joe actually has put this in to practice, but I would love to see a prison try this out!

4 comments:

Ramana Rajgopaul said...

I think that this is a brilliant idea. I shall take this up locally with some people who are into Blue Cross, SPCA etc.

teresa said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Inklings said...

As you know,I used to work at the jail, and my inmates would have loved that. I like the idea, too.

Oswegan said...

That sounds like a really cool idea. I hope things are going well for you.