SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Service Dog Strong has been pairing survivors of sexual assault or military sexual trauma with service dogs since 2020.
The only non-profit of its kind in the state transforms shelter dogs into service dogs and trains them alongside their new handlers, all who have been diagnosed with PTSD.
So far, two classes have graduated and a third is on standby. President and Program Manager for the organization, Kristen Stacy, is hoping it will start next month but says they are $10,000 under budget. The non-profit runs entirely on donations.
“When you have the dog in your home and you're just waiting for classes to start, that anticipation is really tough.” Kristen Stacy said.
September is ‘Service Dog Awareness’ month and Nonesuch Brewery in Scarborough is donating a portion of their sales to SDS. The organization is also holding a raffle.
“You can either take your discount as a service dog owner or you can donate it to Service Dog Strong,” Nonesuch owner, Jeff Gambardella said. “In addition, anybody can donate throughout the month to this great organization.”
Gambardella says this gives his staff the chance to learn more about service dogs and how to interact around them and hopes it makes their community feel more welcome.
“One of the biggest reasons we are doing this particular thing with ‘Service Dog Awareness' month is to make our staff, our employees more comfortable greeting service dogs,” Gambardella said. “We haven't been great in the past and I thought this would be a great opportunity to do this.”
“We're hoping by the end of October, between Nonesuch and the raffle, that we will at least be able to start by the end of October,” Stacy said. “It’s not just these five people waiting, it’s the future participants that this is going to help.”
To learn more about Service Dog Strong and how you can help their mission, click here.
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