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San Quentin inmates reunite with service dog they trained
Two inmates who raised a puppy from behind the walls of San Quentin reunite with the dog - and meet the woman who lives more independently with her service animal.
SAN QUENTIN, Calif. - It was a joyous reunion Friday at San Quentin for service dog Margaret and the two inmates who raised her when she was a puppy.
"Aw, yeah she loves the butt scratches!" said Keiki McGowan, 21, as she met the inmates for the first time. Margaret, a 2-year-old Labrador-retriever mix, immediately recognized inmates Chase Benoit and Frank Siordia, who had taken care of the dog since she was 4-months-old.
Eligible inmates picked to train service dogs
The backstory:
It's part of the Canine Companions program on the grounds of what used to be called San Quentin State Prison, now known as a rehabilitation center, where dogs go wherever the inmates go, from their cells, to the showers to the chow hall.
"What better than a dog, right?" asked Siordia.
Inmates affectionately called Margaret "Grandma." That's because instead of playing with other puppies, she preferred to sunbathe and relax.
McGowan agreed.
"Yeah, I called her old lady," she told the inmates. "She's got like an old lady soul."
An old lady, perhaps, but she's got new tricks. She matched in February with McGowan, a Ripon (San Joaquin County) resident who lives with intestinal failure, as well as chronic pain and nausea.
"She's like an extension of me. She can help me with opening doors, shutting them, picking up stuff that I've dropped," McGowan said.
Woman grateful for inmate puppy-training
What they're saying:
McGowan said she appreciates what the inmates have done.
"I was a little nervous, because I've never been to a prison before," she said, laughing.
But she added, "I'm very grateful and proud that they're able to accomplish all this."
Siordia admitted, "I thought I was gonna cry because, you know, it's like come full circle."
Both inmates were convicted of murder and helped raise Margaret for about a year. The dog was also raised by a volunteer outside San Quentin as well as by a professional trainer.
Even if inmates here might stay for a while, dogs like Margaret come and go.
"And to see her go, it was definitely saddening," Siordia said. "I definitely had a knot in my throat. But, I mean, today made worth it."
It was a special day for other dogs who made it through training, along with puppies who might serve in the future, little creatures mingling freely with inmates in jailhouse blues.
"Overall, we graduate more dogs than people in the outside community," Benoit said. "But these dogs are like Navy SEALs, like, not all of them are gonna cut it."
San Quentin Warden Chance Andes said, "This is what's truly brought the community together. My job here is to bring humanity inside these walls. And that started with Canine Companions."
Andes added, "It gives them that ability to care for somebody and feel important."
Susan Porteous, puppy program manager for the local region of Canine Companions said, "We do have a lot of people that are hesitant when they hear about a dog growing up in a prison environment, but the handlers are screened, so we know that they're doing it for the right reasons."
Henry Lee is a KTVU crime reporter. E-mail Henry at Henry.Lee@fox.com and follow him on X @henrykleeKTVU and www.facebook.com/henrykleefan.
The Source: KTVU reporting, Canine Companions, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
San Quentin inmates reunite with puppies they raised into service dogs
Hugs, tears, barking and tail wagging abounded at San Quentin’s prison when two black Labradors reunited with the incarcerated men who helped raise them to be service dogs.