Story Archive

Pampered Pooches

“It’s a unique and different setting,” said groomer and trainer Teresa Gaethe-Leonard. “But it really works for the animals.” She works for the Prison Pet Partnership at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, where 18 women prisoners offer boarding, grooming, and training for dogs and cats. Including Gaethe-Leonard, who is serving a 30-year sentence for murder. “It helps me get up every day,” says Angela Ferguson, who has a dog in her cell and earns $1.41 an hour for the work. She’s hoping to continue in the field after she finishes her 25-year sentence, also for murder. She thought learning a skill was better than being locked up all day. “Would you rather me not get any help,” she asks, “and come into the community, and be your neighbor?” (MS/KING Seattle) ...It usually works out better when you treat the people like people, too.