Teri L Sullivan
WKNO
Promotions Manager
901-325-6518
tlsullivan@wkno.org
August 4, 2008
For Immediate Release
WKNO Presents The Least Among Us: The Paws In Prison Story
In this story of rehabilitation, convicted prisoners – some serving life sentences for violent crime – find new purpose in caring for troubled dogs and preparing them for loving homes. WKNO presents The Least Among Us: The Prison Paws Project, a new half-hour documentary produced by Pierre Kimsey, premiering Thursday, September 25 at 9:00 p.m. on WKNO/Channel 10.
Inside the Mark H. Luttrell Correctional Center for Women in Memphis, a new program takes an unusual approach to the problem of hard-to-adopt dogs. Shy from abuse or neglect, dogs with behavioral problems have little chance of being placed with families. A screened group of prisoners work with Elta Woodliff, a professional dog trainer, to give these dogs a second chance. It is also a second chance for prisoners, who saw no hope in their own lives until they were introduced to the dogs. According to one of the inmates, before the dogs came to the prison, “we felt like we had been thrown away.”
The show looks at similar programs in Kentucky and Virginia, and talks to Ginger Morgan, Executive Director of the Humane Society for Memphis and Shelby County, who administers a program pairing youthful offenders with dogs. Kimsey also meets Sister Pauline Quinn, a Roman Catholic nun of the Dominican order, who started the first Prison Pet Partnership program in Washington State more than twenty-five years ago.
Pierre Kimsey is the award-winning producer of past WKNO documentaries, including Stax Academy: From Soulsville to Italy and Joe Scott: Memories of the Negro Leagues.
WKNO is a non-profit, private foundation serving the Mid-South for more than 50 years. An important community resource, WKNO uses the power of non-commercial public broadcasting to provide the Mid-South with quality educational and cultural programs that inform, entertain, and inspire.
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