4,000 ANIMALS IN BRITISH PRISONS (including a peregrine)

[Donna]

MORE than 1,000 sheep are being kept in British prisons, shock figures have revealed.

But the 1,374-strong flock of woolly lags are just part of a mind-boggling menagerie of creatures in the jail system.

Among the bizarre animal collection are hundreds of birds of prey, including a peregrine falcon.

The odd assortment also features donkeys, goats, horses, bulls, chinchillas, tortoises, budgies, lovebirds, quail and bearded dragon lizards

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said the creatures are kept for job training purposes and to help reduce self-harming.

The scale of the animal population in Britain’s jails was revealed in a freedom of information probe by the Daily Star Sunday.

In total, there are 4,309 animals and 147 different species within UK prisons – a critter for every 19 inmates

The majority, 2,439 creatures, are livestock housed in prison farms worth an estimated £1million. There are 18 different species of sheep, 15 species of cows and ten types of pigs.

All the livestock are subject to rearing programmes, which help preserve rare breeds. The livestock also help keep the grounds tidy through grazing, the Ministry of Justice said.

The 115 birds of prey include the exotic Turkmenian eagle owl, African spotted eagle owl, Bengalese eagle owl, the boobock owl from New Zealand and the Arabian saker falcon, which is endangered.

The birds help catch mice and other rodents, according to the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), which oversees the animals.

There are 736 caged birds, including 474 budgies, 68 cockatiels, 68 zebra finches and 15 Bengalese finches. Blue macaws, diamond doves, red rumps and rosellas are also kept in cells. Prison governors can give inmates permission to keep one caged bird.

Other small pets include guinea pigs, hedgehogs, ferrets, dwarf lop-eared rabbits and cashmere rabbits.
Shetland ponies, donkeys, pigmy goats, dogs and cats are also kept by inmates.

Julie Logue, of the NOMS Offender Employment and Skills Group, said the animals were the shared responsibilty of prisoners.

She added: “The introduction of recreational activities with a ‘common cause’ is felt to encourage both social responsibility and the ability to work as part of a team.�

[Bird Crazy]

I know the one prison here has the inmates training service dogs. They get them from the pound the inmates work with them and train them and then they go to help the handicapped. I think its a good thing.

[valhalla]

One of the cable channels had a series about the hard-core lock-up in Indiana, which features cats that come and go and are cared for by the assigned inmates.