- Canine therapies. Children's center
There is a different sound in prisons. Sometimes, silence dominates and, sometimes, noise. Often, distant phrases and some shout are heard. But in the Madrid III Penitentiary Center , in the Valdemoro prison, as in 10 other Spanish prisons, there is also a joy of grunting because Princess and Rey live inside, two dogs that came here from a Catalan reception center.
"They have also had a second chance," is heard as doors close behind us. The iron behind us sounds like a reminder: from here you know when you enter but not when you leave. "They are independentistas!" Warns one of the prisoners as we approach . There are five of them and they wait for us in the only garden of the prison, surrounded by some of the modules in which the prisoners live. They are the caretakers and the dogs the therapists. A relationship that flows and also heals.
They live in jail but without a penitentiary regime, one day a week they go to the river and, every morning, Emilio, who has been in prison for 11 years, gives them a walk through a soccer field through which nobody runs. «They only leave when there is an activity programmed by an organization», slips one of the officials. That walk gives Emilio life. «I was in another jail, I worked in the commissary, I couldn't stress because I can't deny food and tobacco to anyone, so when I learned that this program was here, I asked for the change».
Emilio prefers to be a volunteer caregiver and take Princess and Rey for a walk every day than to have a job for which he charges. Feel peace Bless contact with nature and claim to be calm. It is one of the 212 Spanish inmates that benefits from Assisted Therapy with Pets, a project developed by the Affinity Foundation and the General Secretariat of Penitentiary Institutions that has been bearing fruit for some time and, in addition, these have already been studied. According to the main conclusions of the researchers of the Affinity Animals and Health Foundation Chair of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, "the effectiveness of guided interaction with dogs can be compared to that of other therapies, such as psychological treatment or group activities."
"Bandits really like animals." With this phrase greets another prisoner, Victor , who has been imprisoned for 20 years. «I haven't hugged a tree for 17 years», he will explain later, when it has been released. It is, according to those responsible for the prison, the vivid image of change. "Like a glove that has been turned over," the prison director will explain later. What has changed?
That dogs have two great powers: to care and be loved. And instead where, according to the prisoners themselves, the greatest consolation is usually television, imagine how good a dog can offer. “They have given me things that other professionals have not been able to,” says Victor. "If you have a good relationship with the animal, good things come out with others." That is what it is about.
There are five prisoners in Valdemoro who take care of these two dogs, and also that they have a relationship with the rest of the inmates. The idea is that everyone can benefit from this contact. And, according to José Antonio Luis , director of the center, "Víctor's case is incredible: his self-esteem and his ability to be responsible are greater, his habits and his intentions are better".
"Life is hidden," he says smiling, between ironic and joker, while walking through this garden that recently did not exist. When the director decided to bring dogs to jail, work had to be done and spaces enabled. This head of Penitentiary Institutions saw the effect that animal therapies have when he was deputy director of security in the prison of Villena, in Alicante. And he saw such improvement in one of the inmates that, when he arrived in Valdemoro as director, he insisted that this prison also had its four-legged psychologists.
There are now in these prisoners thoughts of the future. Victor, after such a long time, has obtained his first permits and has even written a play. Who knows in which scenario we can see it soon.
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