GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Humane Society employees at Grand Island are looking for untapped potential among the shelters’ unwanted dogs to give them purpose and help out humans.

Central Nebraska Humane Society staffers have undergone training in California conducted by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. At that workshop last month, employees learned how to look for skills needed in search and rescue dogs.

The Grand Island facility also works with a program called Heads Up Hounds, which provides diabetic alert dogs from Denver to Boston.

The shelter also participates in the Second Chance Pups program at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, in which inmates are given a dog with behavioral problems and spend nine weeks training the dogs to make them suitable for adoption.