Recovering Addicts Help Rehabilitate Rescued Pit Bulls

These former addicts are helping rescue pit bulls as part of their recovery in a unique program in Alberta, Canada. The program pairs men enrolled in a year-long addiction recovery program at Our House. They volunteer to help the rescued Pit Bulls at Pit Bulls for Life Foundation of Alberta, as part of a joint program.

“I think they have an understanding of one another,” says Tia Lenz, president of Pit Bulls for Life Foundation of Alberta. “The misconceptions of the breed and the misconceptions of addicts. Everyone needs a little help and it’s cool that they get to help each other and we receive that help, too. It’s like a little community working together.”

The organization started its partnership with Our House in October 2017 and since then it has been mutually beneficial for dogs and the recovering addicts. One addiction program client who volunteers with the dogs, says “We’re kind of shunned, they’re kind of shunned. We work together to show that ‘Hey, this is really something and it can be something.'”