Tuesday, 2 November
In Murmansk social organization "VAKES" was created. Its goal is to train the dogs to work with disabled children. "Our main objective is to evoke the feeling of happiness, to create good mood for such children and eventually give the positive store of emotions," one of the founders of this organization, a cynologist and a teacher, Irina Maksimova said. According to her words, handicapped children lack the contacts with animals. At the same time their parents are unable to care also for the pets. "The principal of our work is the following: the dogs live with their owners and once a week these doctors with paws and tails come to visit our sick children," – Maksimova said. At the moment the organization has classes in the club called "Nadezda" in Murmansk. Indoor and outdoor activities alternate with each other, for example the other day the dogs pulled the sledges and children had the possibility to drive in sledges," Maksimova said. According to her words, the results of such activities demonstrate that children’s fear of dogs disappear, they get a good mood and self-confidence. "When mastiff carries the orders of the handicapped child at once, this child becomes self-assured, " – noted Maksimova. In the nearest perspective this organization plan individual classes with each handicapped child. Also a volunteer group was created with apprx 10 owners of the dogs. " The owners of different breeds of dogs from mastiff to half-breeds are in this group, by the way there are a lot of people who want to become the members of this group, but we make very serious demands on the candidates," Maksimova said. She told us that all dogs are tested by the training instructors. If some "candidate" shows the slightest signs of aggressiveness or nervous tension, it will be rejected, Maksimova added. Also, the dogs, that want to become "doctors", must have all necessary injections and must be kept under ideal conditions. "The slightest violation of the sanitary norms leads to the rejection of this dog," Maksimova added. She stressed that social activity of this organization is not connected with the commercial activity of the cynologists of the Murmansk Region. "Our work is based on non-commercial principles," – noted Maksimova. As she said, there is small amount rehabilitation organizations that work with handicapped children in the world. There is only one service of this kind – "Ardintsy" in Moscow. It has been working since 2001.
