Trains prison inmates to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and explosive detection canines for law enforcement.
Guest Bio: Gloria Gilbert Stoga
Stoga started Puppies Behind Bars in 1997, combining two of her lifelong passions: dogs and philanthropy. Prominent in charity circles Stoga was a member of a city commission helping inner teens find employment when her sister mailed her a newspaper clipping. The article described an Ohio penitentiary where prisoners reared pups for the visually impaired. Stoga knew she had found her calling. But there was a problem: Every guide dog school in New York that Stoga contacted wanted their puppies brought up in loving families not by convicts in a cell block. “The schools thought it was a stupid idea,” Stoga recalls.
She was undeterred. Stoga teamed five canines the schools had passed over with ten inmates at a maximum security women’s prison upstate. After 18 months with their incarcerated owners, the pups were retested by the schools and two became working guide dogs. “Here were people written off by society, raising puppies written off as guide dogs,” Stoga says. “And they succeeded.”
Tune in on the American Heroes Network for their new Episode “A New Leash on Life” Tuesday Feb. 18th 8am Pacific Time on the Voiceamerica Variety Channel.
It has been said that we are only a generation away from forgetting our history. Disabled American Veterans struggle every day to 
overcome life-changing sacrifices. Their stories provides a vital part of history that has contributed to our American tradition. American Heroes Network provides a way for individuals, corporations and small businesses to support our Heroes by helping our veterans and their families rebuild their lives. They help aim our veterans, looking for jobs, in the right direction, help provide homes for our troops, assisting individuals and their families who have been severely injured while serving in the U.S. military and providing scholarships for families of our Fallen Heroes. This will be a weekly hour long show joined by our military heroes and people and organizations that make a difference. American Heroes Network airs live Tuesdays at 8 AM Pacific, powered by Voice America Variety.
