Media Release

March 18, 2009

4:15 p.m.

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - On March 20, 2009, Alachua County Animal Services and the Gainesville Work Camp will begin their "Paws On Parole" program.

Paws on Parole is a program that teaches and allows prison inmates to train adoptable dogs. The inmates learn the methods and train the dogs in the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizens Course. At the end of the training course, the dogs are available for adoption.

The Canine Good Citizen training course includes 8 weeks of training, consisting of 2 sessions per week and 2 hours each training session. At the end of the training, the dogs will take a 10-part test. Dogs passing the test will get a certificate from the American Kennel Club. 

The families adopting these dogs will have the benefit of having what the American Kennel Club considers a "good social companion dog". The adopting families will take the Canine Good Citizen Course, in order to better understand their new family pet.

Paws on Parole includes an After Care Network. The After Care Network is a group that will work with families and their dogs to help with the training integration.

The following information has been updated:

The "Paws on Parole" media event scheduled for Monday, March 23, 2009 at the Gainesville Work Camp has been cancelled. A future media event will be scheduled.

A date for the upcoming media event shall be determined by the Florida Department of Corrections. It is necessary to provide them with a list of interested media attendance before the media event can be scheduled. For this reason, if you are interested in attending the media event, it is important to contact Hilary Hynes, Public Education Program Coordinator for Alachua County Animal Services (352-264-6881 or email heh@alachuacounty.us) at your earliest convenience.

For prison security reasons, please provide the following information:

• name of media organization
• number of people in your organization attending
• each person's name and job function

For more information about Paws on Parole, click here or call Hilary Hynes (Public Education Program Coordinator, Alachua County Animal Services) at 352-264-6881.

For more information about the American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen certification, click here.