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“We oppose most eye-catching programs,” said Daphne Nachminovic, vice president of animal welfare ethics (PETA), in a Jan. 10 interview with the LA Times’ “Un Unashed.”
Nakhminovic’s objections go beyond PETA’s aversion to breeding programs. “They are kept in belts almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, people are not allowed to pet them or play with them and they cannot turn, run or interact with other dogs. PETA also claims that schools are forcing blind people to return their retired dogs.
Nakhminovic doubts most blind people are able to take care of their animals: “A deaf person can see if a dog has a medical problem like blood in the urine, a blind person living alone cannot.” PETA’s decision will bring blind people back to a life of addiction; “The human community needs to do more to support blind people and give dogs a break.
Outraged guide dogs and puppies from many schools commented on latimes.com, refuting every point. Letters to the editor and parts of Op-Ed were sent to the Los Angeles Times. Some people, such as Tampa-based clinical hypnotherapist, professional musician and speaker Marion Gvizdala, president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU), wrote directly to Nachminovic.
“The biggest problem we face as blind people,” wrote Gvizdala, who has a master’s degree in mental health counseling and has been practicing since 1996, “is misunderstanding and lack of information. It is unfortunate that you choose to unravel myths that create barriers to our full inclusion in society. “
Do Nakhminovic’s comments contribute to deep fanaticism towards blind people? Unemployment among working-age blind Americans is seventy percent. Blind Americans are also more likely to be underemployed and live in poverty. However, there are blind lawyers, engineers, chemists, doctors, mechanics, teachers, parents, etc.
Why the discrepancy? Many believe that it all comes down to the changing nature of what it means to be blind. Throughout history, there have always been blind people who have insisted on living a productive and independent life. The ancient Greek poet Homer, the English poet John Milton, and the American writer James Turber were blind. Most Americans are familiar with the achievements of Helen Keller. However, the fact that she is the only blind woman that most people can name and that she died more than fifty years ago speaks volumes about the additional obstacles that society puts in the way of blind women.
PETA’s decision to adopt sighted people as guide dogs, as offensive as it may be, simply reflects prevailing social attitudes. Despite changes in legislation and the revolution in technology that allows blind people to participate more fully in all aspects of modern life, popular sentiment continues to portray blindness as a sentence for dependence and uselessness. The truth came out in a 1991 poll by Louis Harris. The National Organization for People with Disabilities (NOD) asked them to find out what America really thinks about people with disabilities. The summary of the study, cited in the 1992 NOD book That All May Worship, edited by Ginny Thornberg, states: “The public views people with disabilities as fundamentally different from the rest of the population, most often admiring sorry. Embarrassment, apathy and fear are also common. “
We will probably never understand PETA’s real motives for these statements. Nachminovic’s remarks are so comprehensive, so brief, and so completely unfounded that it’s hard to believe they weren’t intentionally calculated to encourage donations from dog lovers who are either unfamiliar with guide dog programs or feel uncomfortable with blind people and are misinformed about their capabilities. It is possible, of course, that she has a habit of deliberate ignorance and is reluctant to investigate anything she says. In both cases, PETA’s harassment of blind people seems to be a waste of resources.
The idea that schools will force blind people to give up their favorite helpers is anathema to many users of guide dogs. Schools have retirement programs, but they are voluntary. They exist to take over the groin in cases where a blind person can neither keep his retired driver nor find a suitable home among friends and family.
“More often than not,” Gvizdala continues, “our dogs live their lives with their blind caregivers. My previous guide dog worked until the age of fourteen and lived with me for the rest of his sixteen years.”
Gwizdala, who is also music director at the New Life Unity Church in Tampa, works with Louisa, his twelve-year-old German Shepherd / Car mix. He played under the stage name “Marion & Martin” – a reference to his guitar Martin – and recorded his second solo album, a collection of original songs, covers and contemporary arrangements of traditional music in the new thought genre. Visit the NAGDU website at: http://www.nfb-nagdu.org/
Cheryl Echevaria, 42, of Long Island, New York, is a Certified Health Insurance Specialist and Medical Invoice Officer. Max, her three-year-old black Labrador Retriever from the Foundation for Guide Dogs for the Blind (Smithtown, New York), is Cheryl’s first guide dog.
“Hold on,” she says in response to PETA’s idea that guide dogs receive no affection and are forced to wear their belts 24/7, “Yes, I use my dog when I go to the bus and go shopping, or any a place to go to be independent. But even when I’m at work, Maxx has a nice, comfortable place under my desk. No, he doesn’t have to be tied up and no, he doesn’t sit there all day with his belts on. I take him off and he sleeps or chews his bone until I have to go somewhere with him. “
Cheryl works at Sunrise Medical and is the first visually impaired person to graduate from the Branford Hall Career Institute of Medical Invoicing. She is a member of the New York Association of Guide Dog Users and Treasurer at the head of the Big Long Island of the National Federation of the Blind in New York.
She recently started a free group for one of her favorite activities – cooking. Blind Cooks’ email list is a place where people can exchange ideas on techniques, equipment, accessibility issues and other topics of interest to blind chefs, as well as culinary professionals and those who want to get into this. area. For more information visit http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blind-cooks_nfbnet.org
All guide dog schools teach guides not to allow people to pet dogs when they are harnessed. There is a difference between work and play and it is safer when people respect that. Guide dog handlers regularly report that people approach them while the dog is in the leash and pet the dog without even saying hello. Most people want to pet an unfamiliar dog and respect the person’s wishes. If they say no, they are not petting the dog anyway, or they assume that no one has ever petted that particular dog. The fact that this happens when strangers meet guide dogs is proof that blind people are not respected as independent adults.
“When we’re home,” says Echevaria, who has a 20-year-old daughter, three grown children and four grandchildren, “he runs around the house like any dog. She plays in the backyard and is pampered by my husband and me. daughter and all the friends who come in contact with us. “
Cheryl, who is legally blind due to diabetic retinopathy, had a kidney transplant from a living donor in 2005. She belongs to the Diabetes Action Network (DAN). DAN is a resource for all diabetics, especially those with vision loss. Blind diabetics can and do accurately prepare insulin and monitor blood sugar levels.
Are blind people, many of whom observe their own serious health conditions such as diabetes, not qualified to meet the health needs of their dogs, as PETA suggests? The comments made to me by my first veterinary guide in Philadelphia have resonated over the decades. One of his professors at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine said that if a blind person brings his guide dog and tells you he thinks something is wrong and you can’t find anything, keep looking.
For a less anecdotal and more up-to-date point of view, we should look no further than the November 2008 report “Guide to the Health of Guide Dogs” by the Maurice Animal Foundation (MAF). The MAF, which was launched in 1948 as the Buddy Foundation to meet the health needs of the first guide dog, has since funded more than 1,600 animal studies around the world. Concerned that health information on adult guide dogs was scarce, they conducted a study not of veterinarians, spouses, parents or a street lady, but of guide dog users themselves. This is the first of its kind and is intended to serve as a basis for future research. Their care in preparing and pre-testing an online survey, which was easy for users to complete on a screen reader, was combined not only with the scope of the study, but also with the many opportunities for guide dog users to comment freely on their concerns and experiences.
More than 1,000 participants in the study gave more than 11,500 open comments, prompting the report’s author, Patricia Olson, DVM, Ph.D. (President / CEO of MAF) to write: “Guide dog teams are called the gold standard for communication between a person and his or her dog. Guides provide love and care for their dogs; dogs provide independence and loyalty to their guide. The predominant response to the survey showed very clearly how much guide dog handlers value and love their dogs. Any work that allows these wonderful teams to enjoy even better health and well-being is very important to the MAF. “
Blind people share PETA’s concern for unwanted dogs. However, PETA does not acknowledge that most guide dog schools have already tried to use dogs for shelter. Too many dogs from the shelter failed in the programs, which increased the cost of training. Breeding programs provide healthier dogs with the ability and temperament to work. Guide dogs perform advanced tasks by avoiding overhanging obstacles, navigating public transport and moving safely through crowded pedestrian and car traffic. They can find specific places when they are trained with patience and praise.
Here again, comments from the MAF study underline the validity of specialized breeding programs: “In fact, guide dog schools have often been a model for assessing health trends and reducing disease through appropriate breeding.”
A letter-form from Heidi Parker, PETA’s mail coordinator, sent to people like Gvizdala and me, out of breath with Nachminovic’s remarks. “Our comments were not intended to have a detrimental effect on people who use or train guide dogs.”
One wonders if Mrs. Parker has really read her boss’s remarks. If she did, what else did she think Nakhminovic should say if she “intended” to misrepresent the programs for guide dogs and those who take advantage of them? From the selfless people who raise them as puppies – the family of Hudson River pilot Sully Sullenberger among them – to the volunteers in the kennels and the trainers themselves, many dog lovers are involved in the care and training of guide dogs. If cruelty was endemic to the programs, wouldn’t someone have spoken before?
Echevarria has some advice for the LA Times, “people who write such articles should go to schools and talk to training professionals.” She also has farewell thoughts about PETA: “I hope you never go blind and need a dog. I also say you have to learn from the experts before you open your mouth and put your feet up.”
PETA did not consider it appropriate to make a public apology, and the LA Times has not yet responded.
Copyright 2009 by Donna W. Hill
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Source by Donna W. Hill