Where did Shadow go?

KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Correspondent
 
On Sept. 22, two inmates escaped from the Weston County Honor Conservation Camp. However, the number of escapees that night was actually three. The two offenders, Jason Green and Robert Simpson, took Shadow, a black Lab mix, with them on their getaway. Now, even though Green and Simpson were recovered in Texas sometime ago, the whereabouts of Shadow are still unknown. 
Shadow, who had been under the care of Simpson,
was at the honor camp as a Project LOVED dog. The project has been around since 2005 and offers healing to shelter dogs, according to Audra Dudzinski, the program manager for the camp. 
“We work in conjunction with the Weston County Humane Society,” Dudzinski said. 
Through the program, the prison works with the society to bring shelter dogs into the prison, Dudzinski said. The dogs are then taken care of by inmates, and the inmates care for all the basic needs of the animal, including training the dogs in simple commands. The dogs even stay with the inmates in their rooms. 
Neela Beardsley, of the humane society, said that about eight dogs usually stay at the facility through the program. Each dog has a primary handler, a secondary handler and a “babysitter” so that the dog constantly has a companion. Beardsley and other humane society workers also go to the camp once a week to host classes for the inmates participating in the program. 
Dudzinski said that in order to get into the program, inmates must apply, meet certain criteria and go through an interview, among other things. 
The benefits of the program to both the dogs and the offenders is phenomenal, according to Dudzinski and Beardsley. 
“It helps them (dogs) learn to adjust to someone,” Dudzinski said. “It’s neat to see the changes in the offenders,” she later added. 
Many dogs in the program have been abused, Dudzinski said, and the program helps them heal and realize that not everyone is abusive. She said that it also teaches the inmates to be responsible and understand what it means to take care of something or someone who is dependent on them for survival. 
Beardsley said that the program increases the adoptability of the dogs, and many even go on to receive training as a service dog or in search and rescue. One of the past program dogs is now a therapy dog in Sandy Hook Elementary School, where a shooting took place in 2012. 
Such profound benefits of the program increase the concerns over the unfortunate circumstance with Shadow, said Todd Martin, the warden at the honor camp. Losing Shadow has deprived Shadow and any potential adopters of future opportunities, he said. However, the situation will not affect the future of the program, Dudzinski said. 
Shadow went to the humane society as a “relinquish,” Beardsley said, which means that the owners could not take care of him. He was in Project LOVED for about a year, Beardsley said, and recently found an adoptive family before he went missing. Black male dogs are extremely hard to adopt out, Beardsley said, and are often the first in a shelter to be euthanized. The Weston County Humane Society, however, operates a no-kill shelter and does not euthanize animals. 
“I just want my dog back,” Beardsley said. “I’m hoping someone is taking care of him.” 
If the dog is found, Beardsley said that the humane society will go get him. The adopter for Shadow also still wants to take the dog, Beardsley added.
“We’re working diligently trying to find him,” Martin said. 
The honor camp is coordinating with Texas law enforcement, where the inmates were found, to try to recover Shadow. Beardsley said that she recently received information that Simpson claimed he left Shadow at a shelter in Amarillo, but she is unsure of the reliability of that claim due to the fact that no shelters have called regarding the dog. The inmates have not otherwise been very forthcoming as to what they did with Shadow, Martin said. 
There has been an overflowing of concern and support from the community over Shadow and his well-being, and Beardsley expressed gratitude for it. 
“I think it’s wonderful that the community is worried about the dog,” Beardsley said.