PAWS Chicago, Cook County Sheriff's Office team up to help animals, promote wellness among officers

A new volunteer partnership program between PAWS Chicago and the Cook County Sheriff's Office launched on Thursday.

CHICAGO - A new volunteer partnership program between PAWS Chicago and the Cook County Sheriff's Office launched on Thursday.

The goal of the arrangement is to help fill the need at PAWS for animal handling volunteers and to promote wellness among sheriff's office staff.

Through the program, sheriff's office employees will walk dogs and participate in animal enrichment at the PAWS Chicago Medical Center.

PAWS says adoptions have returned to pre-pandemic levels, but volunteer hours have not.

Under the new program, volunteers from the office undergo expedited training to be able to jump in and work with animals more quickly.

PAWS hopes this partnership will serve as a model for other volunteer programs.