このたび、講談社から、2014年より八街少年院で実施中の保護犬訓練プログラム「GMaC」(=Give Me a Chance)についての本を上梓しました。
これは少年院にいる少年たちが、動物愛護センターなどに保護された犬たちを訓練し、新しい家庭を見つけるという日本初の試みです。 私はこのプログラムの企画・立案から立ち上げにかかわりました。このようなプログラムが日本でどうやってできたのか、スタートするまでのプロセス、その後の少年たちと犬たちとの交流、それぞれの成長のドラマを、プログラムの第1期に密着して描いています。GMaC修了後の少年の軌跡もフォローした、足かけ4年に及ぶルポルタージュです。
This book is a nonfiction version of 2009 picture book Dogs Come to My Hospital. St.Luke’s International Hospital is the first medical institution in Japan which allowed therapy dogs to visit the pediatric ward where many children receive treatment for cancer, and they have an extensive team approach to ensure children’s quality of life even at the end of their lives. The book follows four brave children and their families for nine years and shows how their experiences at St. Luke’s have affected them.
This book is an updated version of 1999 book Dogs Gave Me the Strength to Live. The author has followed Prison Pet Partnership at Washington Corrections Center for Women since then and decided to present the new stories with their latest development. In this program, inmates not only rescue dogs from local animal shelters, and train them to be family pets or service dogs, but also take care of unwanted cats. The inmates are given an opportunity to give something back to society, and the dogs and cats which were once abandoned by humans are given another chance to live. In that process, they teach inmates — who not only harm others but who are also profoundly hurt — to trust again.