Natural affinity between guide dog and man (2)

As Chair of the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation, guide dog owner and husband of our Puppy Walker Supervisor, I have a lot to contribute towards putting right the very serious misconceptions in Charles Camilleri's letter.

First of all, to compare guide dogs to circus animals is grotesque nonsense. Right from the start, all training is done in a gentle and loving manner. The relationship between owner and dog is a partnership. This type of training is universal, at least in all the schools in the European Guide Dog Federation of which we are members. The guide dog obeys an instruction, given by his partner, in order to please him. In fact, he is trained to take the initiative and disobey an order if it puts the team in danger.

Mr Camilleri's comment about the guide dogs leading an unnatural life is likewise untrue. Each guide dog is given a daily run, off the lead, in order to give him/her enough exercise. For example, my dog gets a 40-minute run twice a day, a lot more than the average household pet. Mr Camilleri also seems to be totally unaware of the close bond that exists between the guide dog and his partner but then, of course, why should he? He is, probably, not blind or partially sighted!

Why oh why, will people go to print with information which is totally incorrect?

A 10-minute phone call with one of us would have prevented him from embarking on his personal and totally unjustified crusade.

Finally, I do have a question for Mr Camilleri.

Was it his intention to try to deprive the Maltese blind and partially sighted persons from having a guide dog?

What a retrograde bit of discrimination that would be!