- April 24, 2024
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Ormond vet says the adopted dog helps keep him calm.
Larry Ankeny, of Ormond Beach, a U.S. Army, Vietnam War veteran, said he needed someone to talk to when his wife is at work. A friend, a buddy.
He recently found one through Paws of Freedom, a program that matches dogs with veterans, most of whom have post-traumatic stress disorder.
“He calms me down,” said Ankeny.
Ankeny’s psychiatrist recommended a companion dog to help with his anxiety. He gets exercise by walking the dog and has someone to talk to when his wife, Mardene, is at work.
He said he decided on Cody when the dog leaned real hard against him.
Smiling, Mardene said, “He knew you needed help.”
Paws of Freedom is an offshoot of Pups N Pals, a program that allows adoptions of dogs from the Halifax Humane Society that are trained by inmates at Tomoka Correctional Institution on Tiger Bay Road in Daytona Beach.
In the graduation ceremony on Nov. 12, three of the 12 dogs were in the veterans program. The dogs are trained for seven weeks in Pups N Pals or 14 weeks in Paws of Freedom.
The people involved say the program is a win-win situation.
At the ceremony, the inmates proudly showed off the dogs they trained by putting them through a series of commands. After receiving a certificate, the inmates each thanked the officials for letting them take part in the program. Many spoke of how they learned patience and responsibility in training and caring for their assigned dog from the Halifax Humane Society.
“He taught me a lot about myself,” said inmate Derek Maxwell, who had trained Cody.
“The experience was great,” said Peter Umholtz, another inmate. “We have a good time and the dog gets a second chance.”
After graduation, many of the dogs are adopted, making them also winners. Homeless and sometimes abused, they were at the Humane Society with the possibility of being put to sleep. After the ceremony, they went to their “forever homes.”
Not only have they received obedience training and earned an AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate, the dogs have also been spayed or neutered, crate trained, housebroken, micro-chipped and are up-to-date on shots.
There are other programs throughout the country where military veterans are provided with companion dogs, but Paws of Freedom is the only one organized by U.S. Veterans Affairs. The program was suggested to the VA by Jennifer Muni-Sathoff, a social worker at the Daytona Beach office, who recommends veterans for the program.
“If a vet is anxious, you want to give him a calm dog,” she said. “If a vet is depressed, you want a dog with some pep and not one that will be lying around sleeping.” She works with Amanda Williams of the Humane Society to find the right dogs.
Pups N Pals is the passion of Officer Gail Irwin, of Tomoka Correctional Institution, who oversees the program and the Facebook page.
“This wouldn’t be sustainable without the inmates,” she said. “They do a really good job.”
The inmates receive help from Allyn Weigel, president of the West Volusia Kennel Club, who has trained dogs for more than 40 years and is co-founder of the Pups N Pals program along with Warden Steve Wellhausen.
Weigel said the inmates are with the dogs 24 hours a day. The dogs sleep in crates by the inmate’s bunk.
“They get house trained that way,” he said. He offers further training to dogs after they are adopted, if necessary.
Visit Pups N Pals on Facebook. More information on the veterans program can be found at prisonpups.org.
