VANDALIA, Ill. (WAND) - A popular dog-training program in the Vandalia Correctional Center has come to an end.
The program helped adopt out over 200 dogs in the past two years.
The TAILS program partnered with Second Chance Rescue, a rescue dog shelter. Shelter dogs were taken to the prison for three to four weeks and trained by offenders.
Dogs were taught basic obedience skills, house broken, and kennel trained.
For every 90 days an offender participated in the program, they got 40 days off of their sentence.
The Illinois Department of Corrections sent WAND TV the following statement about the decision to cancel the program:
"The Illinois Department of Corrections acknowledges the value of the TAILS program to the participants, dogs, and community. We made the difficult decision to cancel TAILS with the goal of expanding programming that will prepare the men at Vandalia for jobs upon their release. We are implementing evidence-based cognitive, job readiness and higher education programming that will give men the skills and knowledge to obtain gainful employment and support their families. We thank Second Chance Animal Rescue of Fayette County and the outstanding volunteers who dedicated their time and talents to the TAILS program.”
