In honour of International Guide Dog Day, we are launching our movie, Birth to Retirement: Full Circle of a Guide Dog.  The movie follows a BC & Alberta Guide Dogs Team, Rosamund and Guide Dog Rory and shows how our dogs are bred, raised and trained to become life-changing dogs. The movie is available on our website in closed captioning and described video: https://bcandalbertaguidedogs.com/news-events/our-movie/

*Warning: Contains graphic content of dog birth*

How Guide Dogs Help

Guide Dogs enable the recipient to move around safely and independently by helping blind or visually impaired people navigate their surroundings. Based on the handler’s direction, dogs safely guide their partner around obstacles, through intersections, to stairs, doors and other landmarks. Some benefits of guide dogs include independence, confidence, mobility, safety and companionship.

Why do we need Guide Dogs?

·       Fewer than 1% of all blind and visually impaired Canadians have a guide dog

·       There are only 1,200 working guide dog teams in Canada

·       Every guide and assistance dog school in Canada has a substantial wait list of approximately two years

·       Vision loss in Canada is expected to increase by nearly 30% in the next decade

·       Approximately half a million Canadians are estimated to be living with significant vision loss which impacts their quality of life

BC & Alberta Guide Dogs is a registered charity based in Delta, BC. The organization breeds, raises and professionally trains Guide Dogs for blind/visually-impaired individuals, and Autism Support Dogs for children aged 3-10 and their families living with moderate to profound autism. It takes two years and upwards of $35,000 to produce one certified dog, provided free of charge to the recipient. For more information on how you can help support BC & Alberta Guide Dogs, call us toll free at 1.877.940.4504 or visit https://www.bcandalbertaguidedogs.com.

Media Contact:
Ashli Owen, Manager, Communications & Marketing
BC & Alberta Guide Dogs
604.940.4504 or 1.877.940.4504
ashli.owen@bcguidedog.com
bcandalbertaguidedogs.com