Inmates at a men’s prison in Blythe are helping the Riverside County Animal Shelter deal with overcrowding.
Riverside County’s animal shelter has been overcrowded for years. In January, it reported it was more than 200 percent over capacity for dogs. One way it's tried to reduce its numbers is by sending 31 dogs to inmates at Blythe’s Ironwood State Prison.
Veronica Perez, a spokeswoman for Riverside County Animal Services, said inmates help get the dogs ready for adoption. Inmates spend about 16 hours a day with the animals.
"That human aspect is so important, and that's not something they can get as intensively and as much as they need being in an overcrowded kennel,” said Perez/
Meanwhile, shelter and prison officials say caring for the dogs helps the inmates with rehabilitation. Since December, nine dogs have been adopted from the prison program.