Prison inmates are training dogs to help disabled people, including Iraq veterans. An organization called Puppies Behind Bars enlists inmates at several prisons in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to help train service dogs to complete tasks that a disabled person cannot take for granted, like flipping a light switch, shutting a closet door or taking off socks. Many of the dogs will eventually be farmed out free of charge to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who are themselves confined — to wheelchairs or to navigating life with a missing limb or two. (source: New York Times, June 1, 2008)

For a slideshow about the dog-training program and a video of Bill Campbell, an Iraq war veteran who now lives with one of the dogs, go towww.nytimes.com/Intheregion.

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