ONE of these dogs will have the ability to change, and perhaps save, lives.
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The innovative Dogs for Diggers program run in Bathurst jail involves inmates training dogs to be companion animals for war veterans.
And already the program has changed the lives of inmates, children and the elderly, war veterans and the dogs themselves.
The unwanted, unloved dogs are adopted from the pound and put through an intensive six-month training program to ensure they have all the skills to cope with being a companion animal.
Program overseer Kylie Fogarty said diggers involved in the program have returned from deployment suffering a range of mental or physical issues.
For many of them, the dog they receive through the program has became their saviour.
“Veterans who were acting suicidal have changed … they are literally saving the lives of veterans,” she said.
The minimum-security inmates involved in the program also receive many benefits and are able to re-connect with the community outside jail.
“In a lot of cases they’ve never received positive affirmation,” Ms Fogarty said of the inmates.
“The first person who this dog has helped was me,” an inmate involved in the program recently said.
Ms Fogarty said the veterans who receive a dog can be dealing with a range of confronting issues so it is vital that the dogs do not spook easily.
Veterans who were acting suicidal have changed … they are literally saving the lives of veterans.
- Dogs for Diggers overseer Kylie Fogarty
To ensure the dogs are able to cope with the demands of being a companion animal they are put into real-life situations during training which includes weekly visits to schools and nursing homes, as well as walks around Bathurst’s CBD.
Ms Fogarty said weekly visits are booked in to visit Carenne School and special education students at Kelso Public School.
She said these visits allows the dogs to become familiar with confronting situations.
“For the dogs it’s great because it’s high-stress and noisy. We need to ensure our dogs are very able out there in the community,” Ms Fogarty said. “We need to make sure our dogs can cope with it.
“The kids get quite an awful lot out of it, for them it’s pet therapy.”