My livelihood is in jeopardy today as Guide Dogs UK lack a plan after four years
This blog post is linked to my video of the same name. My livelihood is in jeopardy today as Guide Dogs UK lack a plan after four years. I originally wanted to copy and paste the following letter into the description. However there are too many characters for the description box. As I say in the video, I hope the video would never see the light of day. This is a devastating day for Orkney parrots and I genuinely do not know what I am going to do.
However I am the tip of the iceberg and I hope that together we can affect a change that helps other people too. If after watching the video and or reading the letter here, you wish to make a complaint to Guide Dogs, you will find a link to their complaints procedure in the video description. Please note that the manager I refer to in the following letter was [as I say in the video] passing themselves off as a manager. I did not know this at the time of writing this letter. Thank you for spending your time with me here today reading this post and watching the video. I will not say I hope you enjoyed reading this post, because in a very real sense I hope you do not find enjoyment here. Who would find joy in somebody's life and livelihood coming crashing Down
The following letter was written in September 20 21
Dear sir madam
I find myself in the regrettable position of having to lodge a formal complaint with yourselves.
Please may I quote from your webpage, “Our vision is for a society in which people who are blind and partially sighted enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else.
Our purpose is to promote the health, equality and independence of blind and partially sighted people.”
I have a condition (separate to my form of blindness) called Charcot Marie tooth disease. This is a neurological condition that apparently comes under the umbrella of muscular dystrophy. The kind I have is normally slow acting and a person with this condition has a normal lifespan (whatever that is).
Throughout my current Guide Dogs working life I have asked about my next dog being (what you call) a dual purpose dog. Three and a half years ago (at the time of writing this letter) I moved to Orkney. This meant that my district team (with yourselves) changed. At my dogs after-care visit in November 2018 I asked again. I carefully explained to the attending GDMi that this physical condition as well as causing me problems that I felt this type of dog could deal with better, it also makes me entirely reliant upon a guide dog to be independent. I explained that for example if I have a gap between my dogs I cannot use a long cane as a means of mobility. This is not because I do not have caneskills. This is not because I do not have the necessary orientation and knowledge to get around. This is because using a cane is the equivalent of me doing hard manual labour. If I persisted in using one the muscles in my hands would wear down and stop working. I would not be able to recover their function. He appeared to understand what I was saying and I have to say that The majority of people that I have spoken to in the Glasgow team have also understood this and appeared to be supportive.
In 2019 my current dog was diagnosed with arthritis. Also in 2019 I was contacted by a GDM I who oversees the training of the sort of specialist dog I was requesting. As well as another charity called canine partners. After filling in a separate application for them, they organise to meet me in Forfar so that I could work with one of their dogs and we could all make sure this was the correct thing to do I suppose. I mention all of these things together as they happened almost simultaneously to each other. Just before travelling to Forfar in September 2019 I received a phone call from one of your dog welfare officers. She wanted to know how I would manage without a dog and again I explained that this would be an untenable situation. By this point my mother (who has the same condition as me and is also disabled) was living with me. Again she understood my situation and said that the dog could go onto a reduced workload. I was given no instruction on implementing this or what this meant. Apart from the briefest of conversations with the welfare officer.
At my assessment (in your facility) with a canine partners dog in Forfar, we agreed that I was a candidate for a dual purpose dog. Therefore at your next after-care visit you completed your paperwork to get me back onto your list too.
We discussed at length allsorts of medical information pertaining to myself. Again this lady understood that using a cane was just not an option for me. Something that was also discussed at length on more than one occasion with various people throughout this process was that if I received such a specialist dog, I would have to divide up their time between guiding work and other disability related work. I agreed upon more than one occasion that I understood this and would respect this. also upon more than one occasion I was told that the list for such specialist dogs is somewhat separate and is dealt with in a different way as the dogs are sourced from early training.
Last year in September 2020 I was in the very fortunate position of being able to come off of state benefits and start my own business. I shall enclose a business card with this letter so as you can verify this information. I also cover some hours for my mother as her personal assistant. Both of these require me to be somewhat mobile.
Earlier this year I took my dog to his veterinarian for a routine check up. After examining the dog the vet asked me what was happening with me getting a new dog. I said that I was on the list and have been for some time and didn’t know. He asked if he could please call somebody and ask them. Of course I agree to this, it seemed perfectly reasonable. Naturally the dog welfare officer called me as she heard from my vet. She agreed to keep an eye on my dog and I was quite clear that I understood that the dog will have to retire at some point.
A week later she phoned back saying my dog had to immediately retire. In her words I will hear from one of the trainers about this. I said that as my situation was not a surprise, I found this very disappointing and I think I even said that I thought the service was somewhat rubbish. I’m sure you will agree that this is fairly mild language in the circumstances as the dog retiring would mean that I would no longer be able to pay my bills or run my business or care for my mother. When A gdmi phoned me they were insensitive enough to ask what I would do if the dog was off ill for sometime. I replied that if the dog was off ill we would know what the problem was and in all probability it would be a short-term problem. I explained again that I cannot have a gap between dogs because of my situation which up to this point everybody has been very considerate and aware of. She then started to scream at me that I had to listen to her.At this point I do admit I put the phone down. I did not see the point in continuing a conversation where we were going around in circles I was repeating my point over and over and this lady was now screaming at me. On that occasion I managed somehow to contact the team manager I explained what happened and everything went silent. I was left not knowing what was happening.Eventually I contacted the team manager again and was told that a gdmi would be contacting me. As it happens the lady who eventually contacted me was the same lady that visited for the dogs after-care in 2019. She came to see us and look at the dog. She said she would speak to various people in the Glasgow team to get their agreement, but she hoped that the dog could work for a while longer.Very fortunately they agreed. However upon her visit she came armed with a list of new requirements that I have never heard of before which I would have to fulfil when I get my new dog. Things like the dog must be work for at least 90 minutes a day. And these have to be separated into several different occasions. This is very contrary to the advice I have received before in terms of a dual purpose dog. I would like some clarification on this pleas as I do not want to overwork my next dog. However some slightly contradictory advice is not the point of this letter unfortunately.
Now I am in the position where the same gdmi is meant to be collecting my dog to retire on the 12th of September. There is nothing in place for me to maintain my independence and mobility while I wait for my next dog. A my guide volunteer has been spoken off, but this has not been forthcoming. There has been no more discussion of assessing the dog again to see if he is fit to continue working for a very small While longer while my next dog is being looked for. If my dog retires upon the 12th of September as planned, you would be making me entirely reliant upon my mother who is disabled in her own right and who I am a registered carer for. I’m sure you can see that this is absurd. It is disappointing as this day has not been a surprise for anybody. I have consistently asked about a dual purpose dog throughout my dogs working life. As soon as I seen a representative of yours (a GDMI) here in Orkney I asked again very clearly. I feel that there is some confusion and that people think that it is the retiring that is bothering me. I have worked with Guide Dogs now for 18 years. The dog retiring is not the problem. How I maintain my independence especially when I have made it very clear to you what my situation is is the problem.
The fact that come next Sunday the work that I do will be jeopardised seems to be very much at odds with the statement I quoted from yourselves earlier in this letter. If I cannot earn money, then I cannot pay my household bills such as my mortgage.
I think that something has gone very terribly and tragically wrong. Obviously the clear communication I thought was happening has not been happening. I’m hoping that you will be able to find a solution that works for everybody. I think it is wrong to be back in the same situation a few months later with no progress having been made.
I am eagerly awaiting your response, Kathaleen Jackson.