SOS Pen Pals is a unique partnership between Save Our Shelters (SOS) and the Virginia Department of Corrections.  Designed to lower the rate of euthanasia in Virginia’s public pounds, SOS Pen Pals also promotes rehabilitation and provides job skills to the inmate handlers, some of whom have become successful dog trainers upon their release from prison. The correctional centers benefit from an environment with less tension as well as improved communication between inmates and staff.

Professional trainers working with SOS Pen Pals select dogs from shelters and rescue organizations.  Before entering the prison, the dogs are spayed or neutered, and vaccinated.  They are also tested and treated if necessary, for heartworms and intestinal parasites.  While at the prison, the dogs live with inmate handlers who have been carefully selected to participate in the program. The handlers socialize, train and provide for the dogs’ every need. Many of the animals participating in SOS Pen Pals have never known love or stability until they enter the correctional centers. 

SOS Pen Pals focuses on positive reinforcement training techniques, including clicker training.  The SOS Pen Pals trainers prepare materials and conduct classes with the handlers so that they also become knowledgeable in areas such as canine healthcare, safety, social structures and behavior.  Upon graduating, the dogs are crate trained, leash trained and responsive to voice commands and hand signals. Many of the SOS Pen Pals dogs later obtain their Canine Good Citizenship certification with their new families.

 Introduced at the James River Correctional Center in State Farm in April 2001, SOS Pen Pals has been successful at other Virginia correctional centers including the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, the Botetourt Correctional Center in Troutville, the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women in Troy, and most recently, the Lunenburg Correctional Center in Victoria in May 2005.

 With SOS Pen Pals, the inmate handlers are given an opportunity to return something positive back to the community –a healthy, well adjusted and socialized animal companion.  The handlers obtain a feeling of satisfaction and pride by knowing that they are helping the animals. Thanks to  their efforts, over 200 dogs have been adopted since the program’s inception.

 SOS Pen Pals has been featured nationally in stories by the Associated Press, the Animal Planet cable TV network and Dog Fancy magazine.

 Save Our Shelters is a non-profit organization.  For more information about SOS Pen Pals, please call 804-358-7499 extension 4