Altus Times
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Dogs of Lexington, a new documentary by director Greg Mellott, director of the Oklahoma City Community College Film and Video Program, and a number of his students, is being presented on March 5 and March 27 at two special screenings hosted by the Kirkpatrick Foundation.
The film offers an up-close glimpse behind prison walls of a world-class dog-training prison program at the Lexington correctional facility. The program, the second of its kind in the nation, pairs rescued dogs with inmates who train the dogs; the animals are then placed with families, elderly, veterans, or facilities in Oklahoma.
Lee Fairchild, Oklahoma Department of Corrections program director of Friends for Folks, is featured in the film, as are a number of inmates and, of course, the dogs. The film was made possible by a grant from the Kirkpatrick Foundation.
“The foundation supports programs that benefit community needs and in this case, we have a three-way win: the dogs, the inmates, and the receiving individual,” says Louisa McCune-Elmore, executive director of Kirkpatrick Foundation.
“We are honored to help shine a light on this exceptional program, widely considered to be the finest of its kind in the United States. In an era of prison reform coupled with veterans issues and animal homelessness, this film seems particularly relevant.”
In The Dogs of Lexington, the daughter of one of the inmates attributes the program to a positive change in her father, who was paroled after the dog he trained, Star, helped find a missing Alzheimer’s patient. Star is credited with saving her life.
Star’s trainer, Marvin Perry, was recognized for the discipline, compassion, and training skill that enabled Star to become a valued search and service dog and eventually he was paroled as a result.
The film is dedicated to Mr. Perry, who died in 2012. Volunteer veterinarian John Otto, DVM, of Norman, tells this poignant story, having worked with Friends for Folks for many years.
He describes the program in its infancy and growth and the benefit to all involved.
Other inmates featured in The Dogs of Lexington are seen training dogs in the yard or the cell, where they live together for one-to-four months, providing nurturing and reinforcement. For some, this is their first experience of “giving back” or doing something positive for anything or anyone else. Inmate trainers accept total responsibility for the care and feeding of the animal only after they have themselves been screened as good candidates for the program, as is each dog, many from Second Chance Animal Sanctuary in Norman.
“This program is a great example of the power of the human-animal bond and one of the areas the foundation will highlight through its Safe & Humane animal well-being initiative,” says Paulette Black, program officer for the Kirkpatrick Foundation. “The vision of the initiative is to make Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal by 2032. Highlighting programs such as this one will be a part of that effort.”
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