Pampering pooches: training programmes set Hong Kong prisoners on the straight and narrow
A total of 32 female inmates have been trained; 10 have been released and three are employed in the pet trade
Life behind bars was tiring and dreary for 36-year-old Abi, which is not her real name. However, a new pooch-grooming workshop not only allayed her mundane life at Lo Wu prison, but also helped her find her calling.
“The best time of the day was right after class, when we got to play with the dogs for a bit,” said ex-offender Abi, recalling her experience taking the two-month course which the prison recently started offering to inmates as part of their market-oriented vocational training programme.
Hong Kong’s penal population is required by law to spend six hours a day working. Normally for female inmates, that means making uniforms for Correctional Services Department staff alongside a slew of courses in catering, beauty, laundry services and other skills as part of the institution’s rehabilitation service.
But the city’s boom in the pet trade – with dog numbers rising by 25 per cent in the last five years and pet shop numbers climbing 100 per cent between 2000 and 2009 – has led to the Correctional Services Department (CSD) diversifying its programmes to include one that teaches women how to pamper pooches.
“There’s been a gradual increase in the number of pet owners, who pay attention to their pets, The pet grooming industry is therefore steadily growing from year to year,” said CSD vocational training superintendent Tam Kwok-keung.