TUALATIN, Ore. (KATU) — Dozens of dogs were washed, dried and brushed at this year’s Dog Wash Extravaganza at Stickmen Brewing in Tualatin.
It’s all to benefit Project POOCH, a non-profit that pairs incarcerated youth with shelter dogs. Project POOCH runs a small kennel at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Marion County, where young men build job and life skills by working directly with the dogs.
Project POOCH Executive Director Sarah Bradham explains, “as they get to witness the dogs change through the love and care that the kids are providing to them, you see them build themselves up, build a sense of work that they have something to contribute. They’re seeing these dogs get second chances, and they start believing that they’re deserving of a second chance as well. And then one of the lovely things is when the youth get to see the dogs leave the program, they get to believe that they’re going to leave MacLaren as well at some point. They’re going to get to join the real world too, just like they are.”…