SYDNEY: Australian prisoners are caring for animals that have been abandoned, attacked by predators, hit by cars or even seized in a drug bust as part of a rehabilitation programme. Kangaroos, emus, wombats, snakes and cockatoos are just some of the native creatures being nursed back to health by inmates at a wildlife centre based in the John Morony Correctional Complex outside Sydney.

Officials say the scheme helps instil a sense of responsibility and develops life skills for offenders preparing for the outside world. “Animals show that [love and respect] unconditionally, they don’t judge, so over time they [inmates] form relationships with the animals,” the wildlife centre’s senior officer Ian Mitchell said. “It is a real positive impact and the animals can actually sometimes help people heal.”

Selected inmates are given responsibility for a particular enclosure and are expected to feed and build shelters for the animals, while being taught how to care for their injuries or condition.

One of the more unlikely cases the centre handled was a python that was seized in a drug raid, with criminals holding the reptile as a deterrent. The snake had become addicted to meth after absorbing the narcotic through its skin and required treatment before it was released back into the wild.

Some former offenders who have left prison continue to work with wildlife, with one teaching people how to handle venomous snakes.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2017