A Little About Us

In conjunction with Strayhaven Animal Shelter in Greenville, SCI-Mercer has formed a program to train highly screened inmates to train stray dogs from Strayhaven in basic obedience and behavioral skills. The program consists of 5 dogs and 10 inmate handlers. The dogs stay in the cell with the inmates and basically have 24/7 attention.

The inmates are responsible for feeding, grooming, bathing, and training these dogs. The program lasts approximately 8 weeks; at which point each dog will be given a Good Canine Citizen Test. If they pass, they will be able to be adopted. If they do not pass, we will keep them an additional week or two.

This is an ongoing program, so once one group of dogs leaves, then another group will be brought into the program. Our goal is to have each and every dog that completes the program adopted.