Rebel the Assistance Dog

A BIG FURRY DOG-HUG WELCOME TO REBEL AND GUY.

Visit their blog. Here is the first entry of what will no doubt be a heart-warming, inspiring and sometimes tear-jerking BLOG:

"Rebel and I were reminded today that I am not a person who is trained in how to handle discrimination. When disabled, you sometimes feel more vulnerable, and when people threaten to refuse access, it can be frustrating.

I began to think that maybe a guide for disabled people with an assistance animal on how to advocate their rights would be useful.

Depriving any one of their rights through shallow behavior is the worst thing you could possibly do, doing this to a person with an invisible disability should be prosecuted first by education and then by law."

We recommend the DDLC Users Guide - although in the process of being updated and written for NSW, it is still helpful for people in any state or territory.

Guide Dogs for the Mind

Coming Soon - Because:

20% of Australians have a disability. It could be permanent, temporary, degenerative or just a speed bump on the road of life. It's a social imperative that we provide options so that people affected can attain or retain quality of life and community involvement.

88% of disabilities are invisible.

Again: 88% of disabilities are invisible. That means for every one person you see that you may think has a disability, there are 8 or 9 other people who are dealing with a medical limitation that is impacting on them.

• Do you need to SEE someone's condition to accept they are living with a disability? If you don't see it do you think it isn't real?
  
• Do you think you are qualified to judge if that person has a bona fide dog trained to assist them as part of their treatment?
  
• Do you believe that all assistance dogs look like labradors or that a schnauzer would never provide a medical benefit to a person?

Would you be better equipped to accept your neighbours' suicide due to depression than to admit that their dog was an active suicide prevention mechanism?

If you are a service provider - would you prefer refuse a customer or client by stating "No Dogs Allowed" then to recognise that their dog may be keeping them alive?

Vision impairment is about 10% of disabling medical conditions. Assistance animals come in all shapes and sizes. Guide Dogs for the Mind will be bringing together mental health clinicians and dog trainers so that the assistance dogs (a 24 x 7 health care provider) can be legitimised, quantified and accredited in such a way to meet public behaviour expectations.

If you are dealing with a mental health issue whether diagnosed or not - and would like assistance that includes your dog, or acquiring a dog to assist you than you are welcome to contact us now.

We've gone International

If dogs and cats are bad, a nuisance, not able to live in units, inappropriate if owned by a renter and not suitable to take on public transport and not fit to accompany you on holiday - AS WELL AS A HEALTH RISK, then why are 'assistance' dogs any different, and why are dogs in the EU any different?

We've joined woopets and started a group called Help Make Australia Pet-Friendly. About half of our members have lived overseas or emigrated here. They know how nice it is when public policy reflects public values and recognises the social and economic importance of pets. (Yes, yes, yes...there are laws to deal with the idiots, just like there are for idiot drivers).

We've started forum topics for pets on holiday, in strata, on beaches, in public spaces and on public transport. We hope to get a lot of input and gain a solid understanding of policy in pet-friendly countries.

Manimalis

Sometimes it takes a while to find your friends or to find out who your friends really are. We've found quite a friend - called Manimalis!

Manimalis believes that all people have the right to be close to animals in any stage of life, as long as the animal is properly cared for and does not disturb those who do not wish to be close to animals.

They are a Scandinavian organisation working to increase awareness of companion animals' positive effects. "Manimalis strives to create a society that is planned and designed with the specific needs and desires of pet owners in mind". Sounds quite a bit like the work of Barking Mad to create safe and pet-friendly communities.

It was founded in 1989 (the year Barking Mad's proprietor (that's me) met the shores of Australia having crossed the Pacific by yacht to participate in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race). The name Manimalis, is an abbreviation of Man and Animal in Society.

Manimalis is sponsoring the People and Animals: For Life conference in Stockholm 2010. This is the 12th conference for IAHAIO. I.A.WHO? That's the International Association of Human-Animal Interaction Organizations. Barking Mad needs to be with I.A.Who....