Latest news with #CanineCompanionsforIndependence
Irish Independent
03-08-2025
- Irish Independent
Yoga, puppies and pampering – inside Ghislaine Maxwell's new jail in Texas
But the reality of Maxwell's life behind bars is very different. Having been transferred to a minimum security prison in Texas from Florida, Epstein's ex-girlfriend can spend the rest of her 20-year sentence cuddling puppies and pampering herself with anti-ageing face creams. Similar to the upmarket retreats she no doubt grew accustomed to during her former life of luxury, the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Bryan in Texas offers yoga classes and a fully-stocked gym. Described as a 'luxury' facility by her victims, Maxwell will be rubbing shoulders with other wealthy inmates and can spend the earnings from her prison jobs on cosmetics. Bryan grants its female prisoners the freedom to roam the facility's expansive grounds with limited to no perimeter fencing to pen them in. There are gardening opportunities for the green-fingered criminals. The 37-acre all-female facility, located 160km outside of Houston, is home to 635 inmates, according to the prison's website, most of whom are serving time for non-violent offences and white-collar crimes. Inmates sleep in bunk beds with four people per room. Julie Howell (44) who self-surrendered in July to serve time at Bryan, said that the prison is 'nothing like you see on TV or in the movies because it's a camp, which only houses non-violent offenders'. Since arriving, she has enrolled in the 'puppy programme', which involves playing with a 12-week-old Labrador all day and even sleeping in the same room as each other, she wrote on Facebook. The prison has a partnership with Canine Companions for Independence, which allows prisoners to train dogs to become service animals and is said to 'boost the inmates' morale, provide them with a sense of responsibility and improve overall behaviour', according to the programme's website. 'We do water and mud play and keep them busy from morning until night with some kennel rests in between,' Mrs Howell said. 'This is my 'job' while I'm here and it's literally 24/7 as the puppies stay in the room with us. It's me, my bunkie, and a puppy and we have to supervise the puppy at all times… I absolutely love it.' Besides Maxwell, the prison's celebrity clientele includes Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, who is serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding investors by falsely claiming her company's blood-testing technology was revolutionary. Jen Shah, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, is also doing a six-year stretch for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Other high-profile inmates include Michelle Janavs, the Hot Pockets heiress, who served five months in Bryan for bribing university officials to inflate her daughters' exam scores. Lea Fastow, the wife of Enron chief executive and fellow convicted felon Andrew Fastow, also spent 11 months at the facility in 2005 for tax fraud after the Texas energy company collapsed. Holmes and Shah have each been pictured exercising in the prison camp's grounds, with the latter's team sharing an image of her skipping in May while wearing grey workout gear. The facility is among the best in the country for convicts to serve time in, according to multiple lists compiled by inmates' rights groups. According to the prison handbook, life at the prison is centred on work, with prisoners earning up to $1.15 (€0.99) an hour for their jobs, many of which involve food service and factory work. These can even be off-site opportunities, for the best behaved prisoners. They can spend up to $360 a month of their earnings during assigned shopping days at a commissary, which sells beauty products, including L'oreal Revita anti-ageing cream for $26.00, a Kerasal nailcare product for $20, and chest binders for trans prisoners for $26. Beyond work, inmates may take classes in foreign languages, gardening and beautification. They can play sports, watch television and attend religious services. They are also granted freedoms not available in most low-security prisons, including more relaxed visiting hours and more time outside, and lower guard-to-inmate ratios. For inmates trying to trim down, the prison has a gym kitted out with treadmills, elliptical trainers, stairmasters and a range of weights. Outside, convicts can take part in sports including football, table tennis, softball, volleyball, weightlifting, yoga, Pilates and the Jumpstart weight loss programme. There are also picnic tables, bleachers and televisions available for prisoners to wind down. The Bryan prison camp also subscribes to rehabilitation programmes, such as one called 'assert yourself for female offenders', where 'women learn to be assertive without trampling the rights of others', according to a Department of Justice document from 2020. As she embarks on life at the new facility, Maxwell will rise at 6am each day for a roll-call with the other female inmates and will have to dress in a prison-issue khaki shirt and fatigues, according to the handbook. Inmates are permitted to have one approved radio or MP3 player and can wear minimal jewellery, such as a wedding band or a chain worth under $100. Breakfast consists of a choice of a hot or continental-style breakfast, while the lunch and dinner menu offers standard federal prison fare consisting of chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni and tacos. Inmates are also allowed visitors during weekends and holidays, but along with other inmates, Maxwell would be allowed only limited physical contact with friends and family. Maxwell's victims blasted the decision to allow her to move prisons, saying the move 'smacks of a cover up'.
USA Today
15-04-2025
- USA Today
'Doors are being shut': Fake service dogs hurt real service animals' credibility, advocates warn
'Doors are being shut': Fake service dogs hurt real service animals' credibility, advocates warn Show Caption Hide Caption PTSD recovery made easier with help of service dog, says one veteran Anthony Certa is a military veteran living with PTSD. He says his black English Labrador service dog helps his mental health in more ways than one. Service dogs can be 4-legged lifesavers, alerting to dangerous allergens, assisting with travel and making people with a wide range of disabilities safer. But fake service dogs are taking a bite out of real service dogs' credibility, exacerbating the challenges that people with disabilities who rely on service animals already face, advocates say. Fake service dogs are poorly trained or untrained animals falsely passed off by individuals trying to access restricted places or benefits. Thousands of grocers and shop owners now prohibit any animals, including legitimate service dogs, from entering their stores. That's because of incidents where fraudulent service animals have "urinated on expensive furnishings, contaminated food, bitten staff, and driven away paying customers," according to Canine Companions for Independence, a nonprofit service dog organization headquartered in Santa Rosa, California. About two-thirds of service dog users say the poorly trained or untrained dogs have negatively impacted their independence and quality of life, according to a 2022 survey conducted by the organization. "Service dog fraud and poorly trained service dogs pose a widespread and serious problem regardless of location and have a powerful negative impact on legitimate service dog teams," Canine Companions for Independence said in a white paper. Service dogs aren't required to complete a specific, national certification, according to the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. People may also struggle to acquire the animals: They can come at significant expense and aren't necessarily covered by insurance. The ADA National Network defines service dogs as those specially trained to perform tasks for people with physical, intellectual or mental disabilities. Such dogs are "more than just a vest," according to Assistance Dogs International, explaining on its website that such dogs offer "expert training, crucial socialization and years of task-based independence to people with disabilities." Fake service dogs undermine freedom and safety, advocates say Nearly 93% of respondents to the Canine Companions survey said they had encountered 'fake, questionable or uncontrolled service dogs,' while 79% reported uncontrolled dogs snapping at, biting or interfering with their service dogs. The survey was distributed to 60 organizations accredited by Assistance Dogs International throughout North America, Europe and Oceania. More than 1,500 service-dog users responded, making the study of assistance-dog fraud the organization's largest to date. Even if a person with a disability hasn't encountered one of the untrained or poorly trained animals in day-to-day life, it can still have a ripple effect. Skepticism about service dogs among business owners and others makes legitimate users less inclined to take service dogs out in public, the group said in its report. "If a service dog user feels they will be denied access or that there are more poorly trained service dogs in public, they may opt to avoid public places with their service dog," the organization said. "This ostensibly has an impact on the service dog user's independence and quality of life if doors are being shut, figuratively, before service dog teams even leave their homes." According to NEADS World Class Service Dogs, based in Princeton, Massachusetts, properly trained service dogs can offer clients "life-changing emotional support and enable them to navigate the world more safely and confidently." NEADS, formerly known as National Education for Assistance Dog Services, agreed that fraudulent service dogs are a growing problem in the U.S. The Canine Companions survey, the group said in a 2023 statement, shows not only the frequency of fake service dog encounters but also demonstrates "how significantly they are undermining feelings of independence, quality of life and potentially even the safety of clients with legitimate service dogs." According to Canine Companions, loopholes in the Americans with Disabilities Act have enabled scammers to exploit the system. The group last year said it hopes to persuade lawmakers to add definitive language to the act that addresses service dog representation, making it "crystal-clear that misrepresentation of a disability for personal gain – including the use of a service dog – is against the law." The group sought to gather 2,500 public signatures on an online petition calling for an end to service dog scams. As of April 13, 2025, a little more than 2,600 people had signed the document. Not just advocates One of the latest local efforts on legitimate service dogs comes from Massachusetts state Rep. Kimberly Ferguson. She proposed legislation on April 1 that would create a 17-member commission to explore tougher regulation of service animals in the state. If created, the commission would have until April 2026 to file a report assessing the prevalence of fraudulent service dogs statewide and whether prohibition or penalization of such fraud is necessary. It would also examine the feasibility of requiring service animals to be certified, registered or licensed. Massachusetts is one of 16 states without a "true ban" on fraudulent representation of pets as service animals, according to the Animal Legal and Historical Center at Michigan State University in East Lansing. A handful of those states still specifically prohibit misrepresentation of service animals in housing situations. Contributing: Phaedra Trethan, USA TODAY
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Child sexual abuse victims in Sumner County get new resource
GALLATIN, Tenn. (WKRN) — Sumner County sees hundreds of child sexual abuse cases each year. Ashley's Place is one resource that helps children go to court and work through trauma. 'When you look at the number of severe abuse cases that we see for a county, we average about 550-600 cases of severe,' Amy Burke-Salyers, executive director of Ashley's Place, said Ashley's Place provides counseling and advocacy. Perhaps most importantly, the organization works to help get justice for victims in court. Recently, the center got a new resource to help child victims as well — he has four paws, a tail and goes by Grady. Gallatin museum honors Sumner County's only Black high school 'We just got back with him [in] the first part of February, so he's fully trained,' Burke-Salyers said. 'His role is to go into the forensic interviews with children. He has a spot on the couch. They can pet him [and] interact with him while they're doing that interview process. Then, he also goes on the witness stand with kids when they have to testify in court.' It can make all the difference as children are asked to recall some of the hardest details. 'Even though we're providing a child-friendly environment and we're sensitive to the needs of children and families, they're nervous,' Burke-Salyers said. 'We've seen kids come in and the idea of getting to meet Grady or know that there's a dog can just take … their mind off what they're here for initially and get a sense of comfort.' Grady comes from 'Canine Companions for Independence' in Orlando and is two years old. While he's been trained to work with children, he's been a hit with others, too. 'He's been a great addition for our kiddos, but I think he's also been a great addition for the team members that work tirelessly on these investigations — being our law enforcement, our DCS, our court staff — he provides a great source of comfort for them as well,' Burke-Salyers said. News 2 On Tour | Explore the communties that shape Middle Tennessee Although Grady just joined Ashley's Place, he's preceded by Ohpira, who helped start their canine program roughly eight years ago. 'He's very smart,' Burke-Salyers said. 'I think he understands and definitely kind of knows the impact that he makes.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
