Blind woman and guide dog attacked by other dogs
Jennifer Barrett, 29, lost her sight four years ago and depends on a guide dog to get around. She is pleading with dog owners in her native Waterford to keep their animals under control and save her from attack.
The mother of one has been attacked with her guide dog, Conor, three times in the past 18 months. One attack was by a pit-bull terrier, another by a boxer.
The situation is so bad that she and her family are being forced to put leaflets through letterboxes in her native Larchfield and elsewhere in the city a bid to get neighbours to take responsibility for their animals.
“I’m scared of dogs anyway but when you can’t see the danger coming it is twice as bad. I’ve only had Conor a year-and-a-half but he is my mobility and my independence. I depend on him for everything, but altogether we’ve been attacked three times by loose dogs that are not supervised, not even stray dogs.”
The Irish Guide Dogs Organisation have started a new campaign, ‘Stray and Loose Dog Awareness’, spurred on by stories such as Jennifer’s.
It costs them €35,000 to train each guide dog but during 2003 they had to withdraw 49% of their dogs from training because of the continuous distraction from stray or loose pets. This has meant huge financial losses for the organisation and fewer dogs being available to the visually impaired.
In addition to allowing a dog off a leash being against the law, the dogs are also liable to be picked up by dog wardens.
In Ireland, 25,000 to 30,000 dogs are destroyed each year.
