There are many ways that Multnomah County Animal Services (MCAS) reaches out to pet owners, animal lovers and volunteers, but one of the most innovative avenues is called Animal Magnetism, a “Pet TV for Humans.” The channel produces videos and segments relaying information on lost pets, pet events, training methods, and pet programs in the Multnomah County area.
One such video made by Animal Magnetism highlights the efforts of Project POOCH, a program that matches up young men at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, OR with dogs with behavior problems.
The video shows how these unlikely pairs work together to improve the behavioral skills of the dogs in order to make them adoptable, while simultaneously bringing the youth in the facility purpose and opportunity during their stay there.
These young men work with dogs that come from MCAS and nearby humane societies on training, obedience, exercise and first aid. The dogs are fed, bathed and walked by their human companions, who also get to take pet technician courses on site.
The program has proven uncommonly successful—one graduate student from Pepperdine University studied the men who came out of the program and out of 100 she tracked, none of them became repeat offenders or returned to a facility like MacLaren.
Watch videos online from Animal Magnetism about dogs used in the police department, marker training, and their regular animal news segment, The Evening Mews. Or watch their feature on Project POOCH here.