SREMSKA MITROVICA, Serbia (AP) — In Serbia's biggest prison, some inmates' days are filled with joyous barks and happy licks.
The prison in Sremska Mitrovica, northwest of Belgrade, has set up a shelter for stray dogs within the prison compound and tasked a group of inmates with taking care of the animals.
The move is part of a project with the municipal authorities that is designed to boost the inmates' resocialization while also helping solve a big problem in the town.
About a dozen prisoners have helped run the shelter for some 260 dogs since it opened in November, cleaning the facilities, feeding the dogs, walking and training them.
"We do everything we would normally do with our own dogs," said one of the prisoners, Radomir Djakovic. "Working with animals is great, it makes our time here pass much more quickly."
