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The people of Indianapolis had an extra special Valentine's Day this year as service dogs from an organization called ICAN delivered nearly 650 gift boxes to local businesses.

The ICAN service dogs are trained by inmates from three different prisons in the Indianapolis area. The dogs are trained to help people with a range of disabilities from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to autism, ABC News reports.

On Valentine's Day, the dogs and ICAN staff traveled around the city to deliver their gift boxes. The boxes contained goodies such as cookies, a candle holder, a handmade scarf, and cards featuring the ICAN dogs.

Many of the items in the boxes were also made by the members of the ICAN-inmate service dog training program.

ICAN started working with local inmates on Valentine's Day in 2002. Now, there around 50 dogs in training between the three prisons.

“We serve two under-served populations, prisoners and the people with disabilities who the dogs will serve,” Denise Sierp, director of development and outreach for ICAN said. “It’s the dogs that bridge it all together.”

Learn more about the service dogs and their “Puppy Love” Valentine's Day project in the video below.
 

Interested in learning about service dogs and the work they do? Check out our article here.

Related:

Meet The First Class of Service Dogs To Graduate From Inmate Training Program

See How Service Dogs In Training Can Help Inmates Give Back To Society

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