The Booster Center

Davis Hawn is an interesting guy.  I first met him via email when he was trying to arrange a trip to Cuba—he'd done some Internet surfing and found the TAP website.  Well, getting to Cuba isn't all that tough, even in view of the US legal restrictions on travel, but Davis had an odd twist on his trip plans—he wanted to take his dog Booster to Cuba with him.

Booster is a service dog, well trained to help Davis with his PTSD.  As a service dog, Booster is with Davis 24-7.  Davis found Booster when he was a stray puppy cowering in the cab when he claimed his pick-up truck from an impound lot.  It was a lucky break for both of them.

Well, we corresponded about his trip and I connected him with Nora at Aniplant.  Her contacts were invaluable to him, and she helped him get a documentary about service dogs filmed and produced in Cuba.  Davis is a very publicity minded person about service dogs, and the documentary was a natural step in his desire to promote the use of service dogs.

Davis adopted a Cuban stray dog he found on Havana's main shopping street, Obispo Street.  He named the dog Fidelity. Nora found Fidelity a foster home for several weeks and got him the veterinary care needed to put him in top certified condition for his eventual trip to the US.  It took some arranging to get Fidelity to the US.  With the help of a couple of fine Canadian-based organizations dedicated to rehoming Caribbean dogs to Canada, Fidelity first flew to Toronto from Varadero.  There he met Davis who flew him to Chicago and eventually to New Orleans near Davis' home.

Booster, being a service dog, needed no such elaborate arrangements.  He didn't even need a travel carrier or to be placed in the baggage compartment for his return from Cuba.  Service dogs, under US law, can travel in the passenger cabin with their owners.  With both of his dogs back home, Davis concentrated on getting his Master's Degree from Bergin University in the San Francisco area. Bergin educates dog trainers, offering a full scholastic program for that purpose.  I was privileged to provide a review of Davis' Master's Degree Thesis.

Now Davis is using his Cuban contacts to start something called The Booster Center in Cuba.  It will be a service dog training organization to help the disabled in Cuba.  Davis has provided scholarships for two Cuban students to prepare themselves at Bergin U. to operate The Booster Center.  Those students, Miguel and Beatriz, are currently in California enrolled in Bergin for that training.  It took two years to make all the arrangements for the students' trips to the US, but after countless emails, they are here and immersed in their studies.

A carefully selected, fully trained service dog is a very valuable animal.  He or she becomes the central object in the life of a person who really needs help with the daily problems of living.  They sense problems and perform tasks like opening doors and provide emotional support and companionship.  If Cuba can develop the Booster Center according to Davis' plans, it will be improving the situations of many people, making their lives more productive and less difficult.

Davis clearly has a knack for building on the age old symbiotic relationship between humans and dogs.

Les Inglis