Refurbished Pets.

When a dog can help a person, that’s a win. When the person they’re helping can also help them, that’s a win-win for everyone.

That’s what’s happening in a programme devised by Refurbished Pets of Southern Michigan:

Everyone is touched by a second chance. Refurbished Pets of Southern Michigan (RPSM) was organized in spring of 2007 because of high euthanasia rates at Branch County Animal Control. A brilliant plan was later worked out where dogs would be given a second chance; with the assistance of the local prison complex, Lakeland and Florence Crane Correctional Facilities, the first and only stray shelter dog Correctional Companion Program in Michigan was implemented. The otherwise unwanted dogs are thoroughly vetted and vaccinated, and then, specially educated prisoners work to train and foster them. Upon successfully completing their tenure with the prisoners, the dogs are then adopted into loving families.

[Via : Refurbished Pets of Southern Michigan.]

This programme takes strays who would otherwise be euthanised and puts them in the care of prisoners. The prisoners care for them and train them up so they can be adopted out.

The prisoners and the overall prison facility benefit from the dogs, and the dogs get a second chance at a life in a loving home.

There are many places where local laws limit the number of dogs you can own, but it’s usually more than one dog. In some parts of China though a one-dog policy is being put in place:

While pampered pedigree dogs are a regular sight on the streets of major cities like Guangzhou and Beijing, the boom has spiked the number of strays as pets get abandoned. The number of public spaces getting soiled has also increased, as have the complaints from neighbors not partial to canines in crowded districts and tenement blocks.

On July 1, [city of Guangzhou] authorities implemented the “one-dog policy” seen as a crackdown on the estimated 100,000 unregistered dogs in Guangzhou ahead of the Asian Games in the city next year.

[Via : One-dog policy has China pet owners hot under collar | Lifestyle | Reuters.]

It seems harsh to impose such a limit on people who already own more than one dog.

I also wonder if it’s good for the dogs themselves. Many people do own only one dog, but dogs are pack animals.

What do you think about a one-dog policy? How many dogs are you allowed to own where you live? Let us know in the comments.