Forum

David Burry – Volunteer/ Program Advocate

Along with plenty of time for introspection, while in prison1 there are numerous opportunities to better oneself physically, mentally, and spiritually. The Bureau of Prisons offers vocational courses, educational courses, college programs, and countless recreational activities. In the past ten years, I took advantage of many of these various courses, programs, and activities that were made available. When I first heard of the paws4prisons™ program, I quickly realized that this program was different. Instead of “programming” to benefit me, this program ultimately benefited someone else – that’s the biggest difference with this program. I remember thinking to myself, “Now here’s something I can really sink my teeth into for the last few of years of my time in prison.” I asked my daughter to look online for whatever she might be able to find on the paws4people™ website and send to me the information. Ashley’s response was nothing short of pure, unbridled enthusiasm. She told me on the phone how a young girl at the age of twelve convinced her dad to use their dog to encourage and help people “who didn’t have a dog,” which ultimately was the beginning of the paws4people™ foundation. My daughter mailed to me pages upon pages describing the paws4prisons™ organization, how it started, and the direction this organization is headed. (Coincidentally, Ashley is the same age as Kyria.) Ashley and I were most intrigued with the rewarding results of the combined effort of so many. Included with the pages she mailed was information on a few children with disabilities, and how service dogs (being trained at the women’s prison at Hazelton) were going to be able to enhance the lives of special education students, seniors, and those who were disabled. Soon after learning this information, I requested an application to be in this program.

At first, I thought it would be cool to learn how to teach commands to these dogs, especially those that are different from the typical “sit” and “shake” taught in most households. I observed some of these service dogs turning light switches on and off, and opening and shutting doors – on command! Retrieving specific objects with only verbal cues also got my attention. I thought it would also be fun to teach my own dog someday how to do some of these things.
Above and beyond the experience and knowledge gained as a participant of this program, and having the companionship of a dog, I will always remember the faces of those chosen for private placement when they were with their dogs: Erin, Jack, Alex, Samantha, Paul, Scott, Amanda, and Grace. Observing these children and adults with disabilities, seeing them interact and respond with their trained Service Dogs and knowing from a first-hand experience how these dogs enrich their lives and brighten their day, all of this is a momentous experience that I will never forget. The most important aspect of this program is … no question – to enhance the lives of those who are disabled by using well-trained dogs, taught with specific skills. These trained dogs are a companion and assistant, and offer those in need with a better quality of life. The idea that while in prison I’d be able do something that would significantly benefit someone with a need; this was a meaningful application that allowed that time to have an important and lasting effect. This program is something of noteworthy substance and I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I have had the opportunity to work with and train seventeen dogs while in this program: LIA, SOLOMON, JAKE, CORINA, IVY, AUSHA, SUR, SALLY, RAIDER, WYATT, SALEIGH, DEJA, SADIE, LILLY, BOURKE, HAYDEN and MAZIE. On that note, prior to becoming involved with this program, I had never really thought about the diverse personalities that dogs have from one another. I found it enjoyable to sit back and study each one of these dogs and establish in my own mind their individual personalities. Each of these dogs possess their own unique qualities which complements their individuality. The trainer’s personality is paired to the personality of the dog, and eventually, when their training is complete, the personality of the dog is matched to individual clients in what has been labeled “the bump.” This is so cool to watch. Imagine a child or an adult with a disability and one of several dogs going up to that person. We then observe them interact with each other, and when there is a noticeable connection or a sense of bonding, more often than not, this is how dogs get paired with clients.

I have many good memories with working with these dogs. Spending time with them outdoors, walking with them in the woods, watching them run and play together in the dog park – these are great memories. When the back-to-back snow storms came in the winter of 2009 – 2010, at one time there was more than five feet of snow on the ground and drifts to the roofs of some of the buildings. The dogs loved it and we enjoyed watching them tunnel through the deepest drifts. For me, it’s fun to watch them play together. I could watch them for hours: the way they communicate with each other with their eyes, their ears, their tails, and their posture. Or the way they express themselves with a sigh, grunt, moan, yelp, growl, whine or a bark. I would spend almost every evening and all day Saturday and Sunday outside with the dogs – very entertaining, certainly better than anything on television! In addition, when teaching a new command and observing these dogs work-to-please, it is rewarding to eventually see them figure out exactly what you want them to do. They become so happy when you praise them as they discover the association between the command and the act that you want them to perform.

Naturally, I miss the dogs when they leave. It doesn’t take too long to bond with any of these dogs. I also felt a visceral satisfaction and pride at watching them follow through with commands I had taught them along with pleasure by simply being in their company. They are so well behaved; this alone makes it easy to become attached to them. On the other hand, I felt a special bond and affection towards SUR, the Afghanistan rescue dog I spoke about earlier. Maybe because he had so much to overcome, and so many bad habits to conquer; SUR was the quintessential underdog. We were all happy to see him progress and learn, as well as entertained by his unique idiosyncrasies. When any of these dogs leave, usually within a day or two we were assigned another dog. Any melancholy I may have felt was quickly dissipated when our attention was redirected to our new charge.

I believe that a good percentage of inmates that have gone through this program will act as volunteers upon their release. There are so many opportunities to support this program in one way or another. Volunteers are needed for public access training, support training for clients, fundraising activities, and endless help is needed as this program expands into other states and new chapters. Of course, anyone spending a couple of years in this program, in most cases they become a proficient Service Dog Trainer. If they choose, participants that have completed this program could easily have a career as a professional dog trainer.

From the onset of my release from prison, my plan was to volunteer and be involved with public access training and assist clients with remedial training of their service and assistance dogs. I am open to whatever other needs that I may be able to help. However, it is not necessarily an obligation that I feel to volunteer as a result of my training; rather, because of my involvement with paws4prisons™, I have seen first-hand how these dogs transform the lives of those they ultimately go to live with, and these rewarding and gratifying feelings are enough to cause anyone with a heart to help perpetuate the ongoing vision and ensure the continued success of paws4people™.

It has been a great honor to have been able to work with BOURKE and HAYDEN over the past year since my release. BOURKE has been privately placed with April, an Iraq war veteran. BOURKE stayed with me for about five months during his public access training. Since early 2011, I have had the opportunity to work with BOURKE and April during his transfer training while he and April learn to use BOURKE’s trained and natural talents to assist her in coping with her PTSD.

HAYDEN has been fostered by a family that owns a retail bakery/deli/restaurant located in pastoral southern Chester County. She is well loved and has been an amazing ambassador for paws4vets™. We have worked together in promoting paws4vets with countless contacts. Without a doubt, spreading the news about what this program’s mission and vision will continue to be a natural and effortless conversation, especially with the ease in talking with people that show an interest in HAYDEN.

It has been and continues to be a wonderful experience to volunteer for the paws4people organization. The individuals and dogs that are a part of this group are … well, amazing! I am honored and blessed to have a part in helping the many deserving people that ultimately are the recipients of our service dogs.

1How I ended up in prison: Prior to prison, I was so caught up in the overshadowing pursuits of money that the things that should have been important to me resembling the Christian values I was taught and the responsibilities as a husband and father, unfortunately these were eclipsed by selfish endeavors. Many people ask what factors influenced me to make the decisions that caused me to commit a crime and end up in prison. Our business was doing well and growing every year. My family enjoyed comfortable earnings that afforded us a beautiful home, expensive “toys,” and plenty of disposable income to give to church and charities that helped justify the wasted money we spent. Along with the enjoyment of our extravagant lifestyle, I find it difficult to describe the level of pressure to juggle the diverse responsibilities that fell on my shoulders on any given day. I borrowed from friends and family members to take advantage of every available opportunity that crossed my path. While managing a successful and growing company along with other responsibilities at church and home, the increasing demands and stress became significant. I talked myself into believing that I and my family deserved everything we acquired. Greed and pride gradually eroded the Godly values I had been engrained with, and a single bad choice led to a mountain of lies and deceit.
There are times in everyone’s life when we are faced with decisions that dramatically change the course of our lives. I had no idea at the time that an option I would choose would systematically and definitively turn my world upside down, along with everyone I ever cared about. Without warning, I was faced with the reality of a probable loss of a lot of money from a single close-out transaction that went sour – money I had borrowed from a business associate. I could not immediately think of a way to make up that kind of write-off. I rethought the whole matter and reassured myself that I had followed through with every reasonable precaution to avoid any problems. Nevertheless, it happened, and I was facing a humiliating situation I could not bring myself to accept. My pride would not allow me to envision any question of my integrity. The self-righteous belief in the veracity of my character was so falsely grounded in myopic ideological concerns that confronting an investor with this loss in a realistic manner seemed utterly impossible. Consequently, I fabricated a new transaction and had a different investor cover the loss (unbeknownst to him) so I could return what had been promised on the transaction that went bad. I convinced myself that this was better than trying to explain to someone that the money they had entrusted me with was lost, and rather than come clean, I made up a story that would preserve the confidence they had in me.
The attempt to disburden my anxiety I felt was squashed repeatedly by an insurmountable need to keep everything afloat and everyone happy with their investment. In order to feed the increasing cost of interest payments on borrowed funds to cover the loss, within months, a snowball affect took control with mounting interest payments. I made-up additional transactions and borrowed to conceal the fact I was using this money to payoff prior commitments. This continued for several years ending in Machinations so unfathomable that even now when I look back, I can not imagine the enormity of this scheme and how it was able to continue for as long as I did. I won’t try and influence anyone with feeble justifications. I discovered that farcical rationalization for doing something wrong is self-deception when persuading yourself that as long as no one is getting hurt and everyone involved is content with what you’re doing, then it’s okay. The truth is, I defaulted on my responsibilities to my family as well as my fiduciary obligations to those whom I worked with. When this pyramid scheme eventually collapsed in April of 1999, my family, friends, and business associates had difficulty grasping the extent of the damages. The guilt and humiliation I felt was overwhelming. Within hours, I was transformed to what some perceived as a successful business man and a religious family man, into a deceptive charlatan with my family and friends victims to my crime.
The features and exacting circumstances at that point were not exactly representative of those I had surrounded myself for most of my life. Thinking back to high school, college, the first years of my marriage, raising two beautiful children, the wonderful memories of times spent with my family, and throughout the growth of our business, perhaps the most unpredictable thing about my life is that I have spent nearly one-fifth of it within the confines of prison. No one would have guessed; there was no category in our high school yearbook for “Most Likely to Spend Time in Prison.”