About 15 minutes ago, on Alinga Street just near the Post office in Civic, I saw a middle-aged blind man get into an altercation with a woman over his treatment of his guidedog.
I didn’t see him mistreat his dog, but from the way he screamed at the woman I am guessing he is not the gentlest of people.
The dog seemed very timid, with its ears flat against its head and tail between legs. After the shouting match the blind fellow wanted to go into the Post Office and the dog couldn’t find the right door so the man started tugging its harness quite hard and raising his voice.
I’ll give the gentleman the benefit of the doubt, he was perhaps having a rubbish day and was just being rougher than normal.
Although it got me thinking, does anyone know what kind of training visually impaired people recieve on how to handle their dogs? And is there a way you could report the abuse of a guide dog to the powers that be?
This fellow aside, if a disabled person abuses their helper animal, the animal should be given to someone more grateful who is also in need.
Did anyone else witness the argument and hear what was actually said? I only caught a few snatches. One thing I did hear was the man saying to the woman how few guide dogs there were and how many people needed them, which struck me as an odd way to justify your poor treatment of such a special animal.