Inmates and staff from the State Correctional Institution in Somerset, PA will be working together to raise a litter of newborn puppies for CPL. The nine puppies and their mom, Fredda, were delivered to SCI Somerset on Monday, December 12, by CPL staff and volunteers.

Darlene Sullivan, Executive Director and Founder of CPL, shares, “This is the first time we are having one of our Prison Programs raise a litter of newborn puppies for us. It’s a HUGE responsibility to care for these puppies. SCI Somerset has run an exceptional puppy program for CPL which is why we chose this facility to wean Fredda’s litter.”

The puppies are three weeks old and will spend the next five weeks being cared for by inmates and staff at the facility. The inmates will provide physical care for both the puppies and Fredda. They will monitor the puppies’ weight, trim nails, provide puppy stimulation, manage the process of weaning the puppies from their mom (accustom the puppies to food other than their mother’s milk), and much more!  SCI Somerset already participates in our Prison Puppy Raising Program which has the inmates train puppies from 8 weeks to about 15 months old. Caring for this litter of puppies will be an additional program integrated into the facility.