WHAT: ABEL Leashing Ceremony
WHEN: Thursday February 6, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Caswell Correctional Center Recreation Building
444 County Home Road
Blanch, NC 27212
ABOUT: After 18 months of extensive training to become service dogs, a Leashing Ceremony will be held to transition dogs from the “At Both Ends of the Leash” (ABEL) program at Caswell Correctional Center, to their new careers assisting people in the community. ABEL, a partnership between the Carrboro based nonprofit Eyes, Ears, Nose & Paws (EENP) and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, allows offenders to train services dogs during their incarceration through the guidance of EENP’s training regimen.
Placing ABEL-trained dogs into the home of EENP’s clients is the end goal of the program. ABEL service dogs are trained in medical alert and mobility assistance.
The Leashing Ceremony will celebrate the accomplishments and skills of not only these amazing animals, but their offender trainers as well. The ceremony will include displays of skills the dogs have learned, speakers from both EENP and an offender trainer, and demonstrations in which trainers will test the dogs’ new abilities.
Should media wish to cover the event, please contact Communications Officer John Bull (984-255-6021, john.bull@ncdps.gov) or Caswell Correctional Center Assistant Superintendent of Programs George Lunsford (336-694-4531, extension 241, george.lunsford@ncdps.gov). Visitors will be subject to a search of personal items and a pat/frisk search prior to entering the facility’s visitation area. Cell phones are prohibited.