The association La Cape, created by Castrais Benjamin Borg, raises and trains service dogs to help people who suffer from post-traumatic stress.
Benjamin Borg, dog handler for the fire department, first evolved with guide dogs for the blind. It was in 2018 that he discovered, in other countries, the existence of post-traumatic stress assistance dogs. Two years later, he founded the association La Cape, which has set itself the goal of raising and training these assistance dogs to give them free of charge to victims of post-traumatic stress. “It takes two years to train a dog,” explains Benjamin Borg. At present, we have handed over 3, to soldiers and a gendarme, ”explains the Castrais.
“The dog can interrupt the seizures”
This concept of the service dog allows their masters to live more peacefully: “we are talking to people who constantly relive the traumatic event, who have nightmares lasting several hours. The dog can interrupt the seizures. The victims can thus go out, bring their children to school… You should know that PTS (post-traumatic stress) leads to isolation. »
And if the will has been there from the start, the association has until now been sorely lacking in money: “a dog bred, trained and monitored until retirement costs 25,000 euros. And we hand over the dogs for free! Fortunately, since January, we have signed a partnership agreement with a major defense association. The military world regards the TPS as an important topic. »
How is the training and education of these “non-standard” dogs going? Benjamin Borg explains: “We give birth to our puppies (Labrador and Golden Retriever) with breeders specially selected for assistance. We use the methods of classical breeding, but we push the process by calling on the best European experts for the characteristics of health, behavior… the assistance dog is a perfect dog, in a certain way… He must be adaptable, discreet, sociable, not to be afraid. He must finally be able to detect and interrupt his owner’s seizures! »
The association is looking for host families
La Cape was until recently based in Toulouse, but Castres Benjamin Borg has chosen to return to the country where it is easier to build a network of volunteers and host families. The association is also looking for families, to welcome puppies, or relay foster families from time to time.
Because La Cape, which has just gone from a team of volunteers to a team of 8 employees, will now train 20 dogs a year! Aware of the responsibility assumed by the association, Benjamin Borg concludes: “we address the most serious cases, people who will not recover from their PTS. The service dog we train will accompany them all their lives! »
Contact: 05 63 51 53 71