Inmates nurse injured wildlife to health in prison program

June 25, 2024 6:40 AM

Inmates nurse injured wildlife to health in prison program. A regional Victorian prison program training inmates to rehabilitate injured native wildlife is giving more than just the animals a second chance.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (9 comments total)

Wombats, eagles, kangaroos and snakes
oh my
posted by HearHere at 8:30 AM on June 25 [2 favorites]

What a great program. It sounds like the folks who run that prison actually understand recidivism and are attempting to do something to lower the rates. It’s such a lovely benefit for the local wildlife rehab community as well. And the rescued wildlife too, of course.

"It's a good feeling; it's bittersweet. I guess you're a bit jealous as well when they're leaving, wishing it was you going out the door — other than that, it's a good feeling knowing you've done something right.

"You build a bond with them knowing that you're giving something a second chance — like we're all hoping for second chances when we get out."

posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:33 AM on June 25 [5 favorites]

If my cats got me through the lockdown partly by being creatures who needed regular attention from me to live and thrive, I can easily see how being given the job of caring for an animal can help at least some people regulate their lives.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:46 AM on June 25 [3 favorites]

There are similar programs in the US - incarcerated people training dogs from animal shelters to make them adoptable, or training rescue or wild horses for the same reason. I hear nothing but good things from these programs, both for the animals and for the trainers. I wish every prison would be required to have this type of program.
posted by Silvery Fish at 10:12 AM on June 25 [4 favorites]

Anything that can help provide purpose and fulfillment is a good thing for anyone - let alone prisoners and in this particular case it helps both the critters and the prisoners. It gives those guys a chance to feel useful and skilled and, lets face it, loved by their charges. The fact that the programs are considered a reward for "good" behavior has to help everyone in the center.

And to Silvery Fish's point - the dog training programs I've heard about here in the US have a great track record for reducing recidivism, which would seem to be the point and benefit of prison time if you're not bloody thirsty.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:16 AM on June 25

That headline sure parsed really strangely until I realized that "nurse" is being used as a verb rather than a noun and "injured" was an adjective rather than a verb :P
posted by Aleyn at 1:28 PM on June 25 [5 favorites]

Yeah, nice crash blossom!
posted by inexorably_forward at 4:40 PM on June 25

I didn’t know what a crash blossom is, so I looked it up. Interesting! (Essentially, it’s an ambiguous headline that could be read in a couple of different, and confusing, ways.)

While crash blossoms themselves are as old as newspapers, the term dates back to 2009, when editor Mike O'Connell saw an ambiguous headline that appeared in the newspaper Japan Today—"Violinist Linked to JAL Crash Blossoms"—and wondered in the Testy Copy Editors forum, "What's a crash blossom?" And thus the word for these ambiguous statements was born…

posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:11 PM on June 25 [2 favorites]

What Silvery Fish said. These programs -- rehabbing wild animals and training dogs -- give prisoners something to do out from love. Because love is not so much a feeling as it is work: living with and working for a fellow creature's wellbeing. Prison should be about rehabilitating human beings rather than being cruel to them. But, you know, people... most would rather stick it hard to criminals rather than give them a chance to become someone better.
posted by y2karl at 10:58 PM on June 25