Celebrating the Bond between You and Your Pet

As a reflection of our hospitals’ belief of that there is something so incredibly special about the human and animal bond, we have decided to support a non-profit organization called New Leash on Life. 

New Leash on Life USA is a new generation prison dog-training program that saves the lives of shelter dogs by training and socializing them to enhance their adopt-ability while helping inmates learn to train and care for dogs. The dogs in the program are typically the dogs no one has wanted and are chosen from shelters in Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs.  With New Leash on Life USA, dogs live in the cell blocks with their inmate trainers 24/7, making New Leash dogs highly desirable for adoption and ensuring the long-term success for both humans and canines.  Here are some of the things they do:

  • Inmates learn how to train and care for dogs thus building skills, confidence, and future employ-ability
  • Inmates learn a sense of responsibility and unconditional love by caring for their canine charges
  • Weekly sessions with professional trainers, animal behaviorists and veterinary technicians
  • Job readiness and life skill courses to improve successful reentry and employ-ability for inmates upon parole

In this 8th Session of New Leash in the Philadelphia Prison System, we are sponsoring Diana, a sweet Boxer mix.  

Diana is a sweet Boxer mix who is approximately 3 years old.  She is emaciated and weighs only 44 pounds!!  Her bones protrude all over.  She will need some extra TLC so she is able to get to a healthy weight.  She was found left in a backyard with no shelter, food or water.  Diana laid her head on her inmate trainer’s lap looking for some much needed love and just rested her head there for several minutes when she met him.  It’s almost like she knew she was finally safe and in good hands.  Her trainers have already fallen for this sweet girl.

Meet Diana 

She and her inmate/trainers will work through a 12 week course of training in order for her to earn a Canine Good Citizenship Award (AKC program).  We will keep you updated on our Diana’s progress through the course.