War in Ukraine: “Brice”, the pit bull “therapist” who relieves the traumas of the boys

Bice is an American pit bull terrier with an important and delicate task in Ukraine: comfort traumatized children for the Russian war.

The playful 8-year-old gray dog ​​arrived on time this week at a rehabilitation center on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital. ready to start your activities.

While Bice waited in a corridor, inside what looked like a school room with photos and a few books.a dozen children they were sitting around a table listening to Oksana Sliepora, a psychologist.

“Who has a dog?”he asked, and several hands went up at once as the space filled with shouts of “Me, me, me!”

One teenager said his dog was named Stitch; tank, said another boy, adding that he has a total of five, but that he had forgotten all their names. Everyone laughed.

The seven girls and nine boys – ranging in age from a 2-year-old to an 18-year-old teenager – initially appear to be schoolchildren enjoying their class. But they have peculiar stories: some witnessed how Russian soldiers invaded their hometowns and They beat their relatives.

Some are sons, daughters, brothers or sisters of soldiers who are at the front or died there.

They meet at the Center for Social and Psychological Rehabilitation, a state-run community center where people can get help coping with traumatic experiences following the Russian invasion in February. Staff regularly offer psychological therapy to anyone affected by the war in any way.

In the past they worked with horses, but now the support of another four-legged friend is added: canine therapy.

Located in Boyarka, a suburb about 20 kilometers southwest of Kiev, the center was established in 2000 as part of an effort to provide psychological support to people directly or indirectly affected by the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. .

Now the focus is on those affected by the war. These days, when some areas are without electricity following Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the two-story building is one of the few places with light and heating.

With the children gathered, some wearing blue or red Christmas hats, Sliepora secretly asked them if they wanted to meet anyone. Yes.” was the answer. The door opened. The children’s faces lit up. They smiled.

Bice the therapist

And Bice entered, the therapist wagging his tail.

Darina Kokozei, the dog’s owner and keeper, asked the children to approach one by one to ask her to do a trick or two. She sat down. She stood up on her hind legs. She stretched out a paw or turned away. Then a group hug, followed by some sweets for him.