The dog training scheme aims to help inmates better prepare for life outside prison (Michal Cizek) (Michal Cizek/AFP/AFP)Photo: © AFP
By AFP - Agence France Presse
Puppy love: Czech prisoners train assistance dogs
Jan FLEMR
David Hejny and Marek Kolar, who are serving their last year in prison, are working hard to train their puppies, Zeus and Zirkon, to be assistance dogs for the visually impaired.
The training is part of a project to help inmates at Jirice prison, north-east of Prague, better prepare for life outside jail.
“It certainly helps mentally, and you learn to be responsible, taking care of someone else,” said 34-year-old Hejny, who is serving time in the open prison for drug trafficking and human trafficking.
Twenty-nine of Jirice's 800 inmates live in houses without bars, the only facility of its kind in the Czech Republic. The prison was opened in 2017, inspired by Norway's system, which greatly emphasizes rehabilitation.
The carefully selected inmates also look after other animals, including a llama and two kangaroos, and work in the garden.
“The animals fit in with our concept of stimulating the inmates' work habits,” Roman Farkas, a special educator at Jirice, next to the prison's small soccer field, told AFP.
“They also serve as a therapeutic element... as an anti-stress program,” he told AFP.
While the Czech recidivism rate for released convicts is as high as 70%, in Jirice's open prison, it is only 17.2%.
- 'A real devil' -
On a cold and foggy morning, Hejny and Kolar put the two-month-old Labrador Retriever puppies on a leash and separated them to show what they have learned since arriving on November 1st.
The dogs, who are brothers, stay with the inmates most of the time. While Hejny's puppy Zeus can sit and paw, Zirkon sniffs, wagging his tail happily.
“He's a demon, and it's going to be hard,” said Kolar, stroking the dog as he sat on a bed in the detention house.
“Taking care of the dogs makes us happy - we don't feel alone because we have someone here,” added the 31-year-old, who was imprisoned for drug trafficking and theft.
“In prison, you meet people you don't want to be with, but you have to get to know them. But you always want to be with a dog, right?”
So far, the inmates at Jirice have raised 12 dogs. After a year, the prison sends them back to an organization that gives them to visually impaired people.
- 'I'm going to buy a puppy when I get out' -
“The project was designed to socialize the dogs, to teach them to like people and become familiar with the world around them,” said Farkas.
The inmates take the dogs to Prague to let them experience the metro, escalators, or shopping malls to help them get used to the hustle and bustle of the city.
Farkas said that the trainers don't need a guard: “We hope they never abuse their freedom.”
The prison selects the dog trainers for the “Paw in the Palm” project, inspired by a similar project in the United States, after assessing their profiles, with previous experience being an advantage.
Zirkon is the second dog trained by Kolar, who says he has always loved animals.
“I will leave together with Zirkon in October 2025,” he said.
Hejny, who has been in service for 14 months, will hand Zeus over two months before his release.
“They'll take Zeus away after a year, and I'll be sad,” he said.
“So I'll buy a puppy when I get out.”
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