A program born from one 9-year-old's battle with a brain tumor has now matched 191 dogs with Colorado children facing serious medical and behavioral conditions, and on Saturday, families gathered in Northglenn to celebrate the milestone together. Allison Winn was undergoing treatment for a brain tumor in 2009 when she started what became the Stink Bug Project, a program she named after her own way of picturing cancer and chemotherapy as a stink bug to be squashed.
Winn, now 26, launched the idea as a child, and it has since grown into a structured initiative run by the Rocky Mountain Children's Health Foundation, which folded the project into its program portfolio in 2012, according to the foundation's own history. As reported by the Denver Gazette, the project matches families with children ages 5 to 18, with eligibility extending to age 21 for kids still living with their parents, so long as they have a diagnosed long-term or chronic medical or behavioral condition.
Where the Dogs Come From
The dogs themselves arrive by way of Colorado's Prison-Trained K-9 Companion Program, a Colorado Correctional Industries initiative that has expanded to six state correctional facilities, per Colorado Correctional Industries. Inmate trainers work with the dogs around the clock for roughly two months, teaching them command response, leash skills, and how to interact with other dogs, per the Denver Gazette's reporting. Handlers who complete the program can carry their master dog trainer certification into jobs outside prison once released, the same report notes.
To even qualify as a handler, incarcerated applicants must hold a GED, keep a clean behavioral record for at least six months, and finish 14 months of coursework and practical exams to earn that master trainer certification, according to a Prison Insider page citing News 5 Cleveland. Between the program's 2002 founding and 2019, it trained nearly 13,000 dogs. Many came from private families paying for boarding and training, and the program did not rely on state taxpayer funds, News 5 Cleveland reported. The dogs matched through Stink Bug come from local rescues and breeders and are specifically trained to accommodate children who use wheelchairs or medical tubes, the Denver Gazette's report states.
Families Share What the Dogs Have Meant
Christina Ridgeway and her 8-year-old son, Caleb, who was diagnosed with leukemia, were matched with a 70-pound poodle named Winston, who the family says has helped Caleb socialize. Jessica Mittelstaedt, who has battled pancreatic cancer and lives with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, was matched with a dog named Princess Peach, who visits her in the hospital. Mittelstaedt had her pancreas, spleen, gallbladder and duodenum removed in 2022, according to the Denver Gazette's account.
Joseph Molinaro received his dog, Mr. Man, a chihuahua mix, through the Stink Bug Project when he was 6 years old. He's 19 now. Molly Bankston, the program's logistics manager, told the Denver Gazette that the arrangement benefits everyone involved: the dogs get good homes, the children receive unique support, and the incarcerated trainers give back to society.
Why the Science Backs the Comfort
The emotional lift families describe has research behind it. American Humane describes seven years of research, while the full clinical trial published in the Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing collected data from January 2014 through September 2016 and reported benefits on particular measures, including reduced emotional distress and improved family communication, according to American Humane. Separately, a 2026 epidemiological study in Scientific Reports that analyzed more than 55,000 cancer patient records found a 95% five-year survival rate among patients with companion dog contact, compared with 87% among those without, per the American Animal Hospital Association.
Concerns about infection risk in hospital settings have also been studied directly. A 2024 controlled study in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care found that therapy dog visits in pediatric oncology units improved parental anxiety and that proper handwashing prevented an increase in microbial levels on hospitalized children's hands, according to the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Larger studies are needed to assess infection risks.
The Cost of Each Match
The Rocky Mountain Children's Health Foundation, formed in 2008 alongside Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, now assists more than 7,500 pediatric patients and families annually and also manages Mothers' Milk Bank, North America's largest nonprofit donor milk bank.
Bankston said the Stink Bug Project accepts children with conditions ranging from diabetes to kidney transplants, and that the broader goal is supporting kids who miss out on ordinary childhood activities because of their medical conditions. The program is aiming to match 200 dogs with children by January, according to Bankston.
