MANSFIELD, Ohio — In Mansfield, an unusual program helps to raise orphaned wild animals until they are old enough and strong enough to be released and survive in nature.
They are animals, such as opossums and squirrels, whose biological mother died or was killed, possibly by a car.
The majority of the animals are from the Ohio Wildlife Center in Columbus.
“Every year, we take in over 8,500 animals that are orphaned, injured or sick and then our wonderful programs here help to support the raising of our orphaned programs, which is over 70% of our admissions each year,” according to David Donahue, director of the Ohio Wildlife Center.
The juveniles are hand-nursed and cared for indoors before being transferred to outdoor cages where they are exposed to an environment more similar to what they would encounter in the wild.
However, this program is not held in a zoo or a typical sanctuary. It is located inside the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield.
It is one of five similar programs in prisons across the state.
“Richland started back with us after COVID and their focus is mainly on squirrels and opossums and they are very good at that,” Donahue told me. “Ohio Reformatory for Women focuses on rabbits, Marion focuses on the songbird program and we just started up London correctional and Madison correctional on our level one program, which happens to be squirrels.”
The prison is described as having minimum to moderate security.
Prisoners must be screened before they can participate. They are supervised by prison staff.
“It was the most exciting experience I’ve ever had. I’ve been at this for 26 years. I did a dog program at another facility, but this is really cool.” said Amanda Rouch, one of the supervisors.
FOX 8 was permitted to speak with prisoners participating in the program but not to videotape the interviews.
Denzel has seven years left on his 22-year sentence and said he has been participating in the program for the past year.
“For me, having a lot of time is debilitating in some ways, but when you have something to take care of, care for, or protect, that is conservation. It’s important to know that you’re doing something positive rather than simply sitting,” he said.
The prison’s warden, Angela Stuff, agrees that it’s a win-win situation.
“In a prison setting, I believe it fits into our director’s core values, particularly giving hope. We can give them hope by giving them a purpose. We can teach them a skill that they can take with them when they are released and share with their family and friends,” Stuff said.
“The wildlife center focuses on this because it involves rehabilitation on both sides. It’s giving both animals and humans a second chance, which is something we really value here,” said Donahue.
While the prisoners form bonds with the orphaned animals, precautions are taken to ensure that the human imprint on them does not prevent them from surviving when released back into the wild.
“The main goal we do (for the animals) is making sure they have a friend and they are not being raised alone,” Donahue told me. “Outside of their pre-release program, interactions are limited to food and cage cleaning. We are also acting predatory, making loud noises, and doing other things to make them behave differently than humans.”
The program is one of approximately a dozen vocational programs at the prison.
Other prisoners in the carpentry shop built the squirrel cages.
Along with the animals, Richland prisoners help multiply mealworms, which can be used as food for songbirds in other programs, providing approximately 750 pounds of tiny mealworms in the last three and a half years.
“Absolutely yes, I have seen that it works not only in the wildlife program but other programs, promoting positive behaviors within the prison system,” according to Stuffed.
