Guide dog training group urges responsible animal ownership

Much of the €35,000 required to breed, train and maintain a guide dog partnership over its working life can be lost because the dogs are often lured away by stray animals, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind warned yesterday.

Launching a stray and loose dog awareness campaign the support group said serious problems were encountered by blind and visually impaired. Last year almost half the association's dogs were withdrawn from training due to continuous distraction from stray or loose pet dogs.

The problem was resulting in huge financial losses for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, the association warned. Calling for a more responsible approach to dog ownership the association said fewer guide dogs were available to the visually impaired who needed them to bring mobility and independence to their lives.

"Imagine what it must be like to walk down the street where you live and hear an aggressive dog snarl and bark and you can't use your vision to defend yourself and retreat to a safe position" said Mr Ken Brydon, the association's training manager.

One guide dog owner spoke about an attack on himself and his animal: "Dalton [the guide dog\] was attacked by a dog when we were coming out of the bank my dog lay down he's not a fighting dog ... It nearly killed him and me only for Dalton's guide dog harness he would have been ripped asunder."

Attacks are a serious problem in the Republic as 25,000 to 30,000 dogs are located and destroyed in Irish animal pounds every year. That is a dog destroyed every five minutes of the working day, according to Mr Brydon who says the State has over five times more strays than the UK.

He also pointed out that just one bitch and her offspring, producing an average litter of four pups once a year, can total over 4,000 dogs in just seven years.

The Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has now called on all pet owners to neuter and microchip their dogs as part of National Spay Week which takes place in October each year.

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind programmes include Guide Dog, Long Cane, Independent Living Skills and Child Mobility. The services are provided free of charge and 80 per cent of the association's income is provided by fundraising.