Linden puppy raiser stresses the need for more volunteers

In light of a global shortage of puppy raisers for guide dog associations, Linden resident Joe Kiggell has encouraged the public to give it a go.

Kiggell’s family has their own six dogs at the moment plus the latest guide-pup-in-training, Lyra. The energetic and playful golden lab is still gentle and very obedient, so the family has much hope that she will graduate from guide dog school – not all dogs do. This is because the bar for discipline and skills a dog needs to help a person with a disability function better are set high, understandably so.

“Three of the dogs we currently have are withdraws, meaning they could not stay on and help a person. It is nice that we got to keep those dogs,” said Kiggell, who has been raising puppies for seven years. “And yet while saying goodbye to a dog you have raised is difficult, you see how people who need assistance get that and their lives improve so much. It is worth it.”

Assistance Dogs International (ADI) has warned that a witnessed shortage of puppy raisers and volunteers, combined with an increase in demand for assistance dogs, could severely impact the lives of people with disabilities.

The group, which the South African Guide Dogs Association for the Blind forms part of, said by the end of last year almost 9 000 people were waiting for assistance dogs and millions more who could potentially benefit.

“People with a range of disabilities are having to wait up to two years for a dog which could massively improve their quality of life,” said ADI executive director Chris Diefenthaler. “Some of our members say the shortage has reached a critical stage because demand for assistance dogs has never been higher. They are having to turn away desperate families and individuals because a shortage of volunteer puppy raisers and socialisers means they can’t train assistance dogs fast enough to meet the need.”

As the only ADI-accredited assistance dog training facility in South Africa, the SA Guide Dogs Association for the Blind (GDA) experiences the same trend.

“We understand that people with busy lives feel they may not have the time, experience or capacity to volunteer, but the rewards are incredible,” said the head of public relations at GDA, Pieter van Niekerk.

“By volunteering with GDA, you’ll be supporting a world-class assistance dog training programme. You get all the benefits of caring for a dog without the expense – and best of all, you’ll be changing someone’s life.”

Details: Pieter van Niekerk PieterV@guidedog.org.za

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Linden resident loves to raise puppies for the SA Guide-Dogs Association