GUIDE DOGS FOR BUND

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31062, 18 May 1966, Page 12

GUIDE DOGS FOR BUND

Round Tables Project A totally blind Auckland housewife, Mrs M. Gedye, with her guide dog, Honey, will address a public meeting in Christchurch on Thursday evening as part of a Round Table Association project in the South Island aimed at informing blind people and the general public in the use of guide dogs.

Administration of the guide dog scheme in New Zealand is handled by the Foundation For the Blind Guide Dog Committee in Auckland set up in 1963 at the instigation of the Round Table organisation. The commiVee hopes that all totally blind persons who want one, and are eligible to own a guide dog, can be provided with one, said a spokesman of the Christchurch Round Stables. Funds are available for the purchase of dogs through th p Foundation For the Blind. At present there are five guide dogs working in New Zealand, all of which are in the Auckland area.

The South Island campaign will include meetings during the week from Invercargill to Nelson. Mrs Gedye will address the meetings and the film “Leading Lady,” will be shown.

It is not the intention of the organisers of the information campaign to coerce blind people into believing that guide dogs are the most important or only aid to mobility, said the Christchurch spokesman. Not all blind people are physically or emotionally suited to working with a guide dog.