During the “Inspire Change” game that took place on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills, the Los Angeles Chargers presented an award to the founder and chief executive officer of Paws for Life K9 Rescue in recognition of their efforts carried out within correctional facilities.
In recognition of their rehabilitation work at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, the California State Prison-Los Angeles, located in Lancaster, and Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, Paws for Life K9 Rescue’s Alex Tonner and Jon Grobman were presented with the Inspire Change Changemaker Award by the team.
Paws for Life K9 Rescue received a donation of $10,000 from the NFL Foundation in honor of the organization’s founder, Alex Tonner, and the chief operating officer, Jon Grobman.
In April 2014, Paws For Life launched the very first dog rehabilitation program in a maximum-security prison for male inmates, which was located at California State Prison. The inmates made a commitment to work for a period of ten weeks, during which they would construct dog runs outside of their cellblock, work in shifts to care for, train, and socialize the animals, and build a bridge to the outside world.
The American Kennel Club certified all 15 of the dogs that were saved from high-kill shelters as “Canine Good Citizens.”
According to the group, formerly incarcerated individuals who have taken part in the program have gone on to pursue careers in the fields of dog training and business ownership, as well as work for charitable organizations.
Before establishing Paws for Life K9 Rescue in 2014, Tonner volunteered for a significant amount of time for several dog rescue organizations.
Training programs in the prison are under Grobman’s supervision.
Grobman, who studied dog emotion and cognition at Duke University, stated that Paws For Life had provided an extraordinary path to his own transformation as someone who is formerly incarcerated.
Source: https://mynewsla.com/weather/2023/12/23/dog-recuse-founder-coo-honored-at-chargers-game-for-prison-work/
Image source: Image by Andrés Carlo from Pixabay