Peter Gorbing, chief executive of Dogs for the Disabled and President of Assistance Dogs International (the umbrella body representing over 160 assistance dog programmes worldwide) visited the Bocalan Foundation in Barcelona to deliver a lecture on the work of Dogs for the Disabled. As part of the trip, Mr Gorbing was also invited to take part in an airline simulation exercise involving the safe evacuation of assistance dogs, organised by Speed Air in association with the Spanish airline Iberia and the Catalan Government.
Commenting on the trip Mr Gorbing said: “It has been interesting to see the work going on by the Bocalan Foundation. There are many similarities in the way our organisations work, but there are also things that we can learn from one another that will help us understand and develop assistance dog training and techniques and therefore offer benefits to all our working partnerships.”
The Bocalan Foundation is Spain’s leading assistance dog organisation, and like Dogs for the Disabled trains Assistance Dogs for physically disabled children and adults. The Foundation also offers Animal Assisted Therapy to children with Autism – something that Dogs for the Disabled is keen to learn more about as it develops its own programme training assistance dogs for children with autism.
Improving access for disabled people with assistance dogs also remains a key issue for all assistance dog programmes. With new EU Regulations on the rights of disabled persons travelling by air coming into force in July 2008, disabled people with assistance dogs will have to be catered for by airports and airlines across Europe. This is a significant step forward which is welcome by all assistance dog organisations across Europe.
The simulated ‘flight’ organised by the Bocalan Foundation was part of a programme to develop the plans which will form part of all airline manuals detailing how assistance dogs and their clients might best deal with any situation that can arise during a flight. This includes how best to support the partnership in the event of an emergency or even evacuation from the plane. The simulated exercise was observed by representatives from Iberia and the Catalan Government who were keen to ensure that the needs of disabled people and their assistance dogs are met in full. The assistance dogs taking part in the exercise behaved impeccably and what was learnt during the ‘flight’ will be helpful to all airlines across Europe.
Commenting on the simulated ‘flight’ Mr Gorbing said: “This was a critical step forward in ensuring that safe and considerate air travel is available to all assistance dog clients who want to travel with their dogs and I would urge all airlines to ensure they are ready to meet their obligations in July”.
Both organisations have made a commitment to continue to work together more closely in the future with further areas of work and development already identified which will bring wider benefits to all assistance dog partnerships.
7th May 2008
