How Dogs Are Revolutionizing Mental Health in an Ohio Jail

Once the “overdose capital” of the United States, Ohio’s Montgomery County is now championing novel treatments for mental health—specifically of the four-legged, furry variety—and the results are nothing short of dramatic.
Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said bringing therapy dogs into the jail had a positive response “right away.”
Inmates are fighting less, detoxing is slightly less painful, and stress is lifted.
Further, inmates who previously wouldn’t speak come out and interact with the dogs, Streck said. That interaction is often the catalyst to seeking additional help.
“The biggest thing we took away from it was it really helped with our use-of-force rates. That number drops significantly, almost 60 percent, when the therapy dogs are around,” Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck told The Epoch Times….