Amazing Doc on Prison Dog Program

Filmmaker Andrew Wright of Wright Brothers Films is documenting the transformation of dogs and offenders involved in the Colorado Correctional Industries Prison Trained K-9 Companion Program in a documentary series called “Castaways.” In the first segment, an abused chocolate Lab named Esther is brought to Stevens by the National Mill Dog Rescue, cowering and peeing from fear as she is lifted into a van. Wright filmed Esther five weeks later wagging her tail, chasing balls, and generally acting like a Lab for her trainer, Jason Mayo.

“When he took that ball and threw that ball to her—the hair still raises up on my arms every time I think of it,” Wright says. “These stories need to be told.” He says it is inspiring to film the offenders and learn the ways the dog training program is changing their lives.

“It’s all through this bond of a man and a dog,” he says. “They’re as cast away as the dog is a castaway.”

He hopes people will watch Esther’s video at savingcastaways.com and share it with their friends to help increase public awareness and even start a movement. “People will start saying, ‘Why isn’t this program in my state, or my local detention facility?” he says. “It does work.” For more on this amazing series, go to: wrightbrosfilms.com or savingcastaways.com.