Man Bites Guide Dog

For the latest in miniature horse headlines visit: http://www.guidehorse.com/law_n_news.htm

In this astonishing case of animal cruelty, a blind man was arrested for dragging, beating and biting his guide dog:

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=206212005

A BLIND man bit his guide dog during a savage attack on the animal in the middle of a busy city street. . . The labrador/retriever cross was taken into protective care by police and was later handed over to a charitable organisation for guide dogs.

Detectives are in the process of checking the area’s CCTV camera footage to ascertain why the man "lost it" before biting and kicking the beast.  . . . A police spokesman said: "Any attack on a defenceless animal, particularly one trained to help people, is appalling."

This story is not uncommon and all guide animal handlers must be screen for emotional stability to ensure that they will not kill or injure their guide animals.  This is especially important after the sad case of “Inky” an innocent guide dogs who was beaten and killed by his drunken handler in Pennsylvania:

http://www.critterhaven.org/front_page.htm

Miller, who was born with sight, but due to detached retinas progressively lost his vision from age 18, allegedly told police that he was walking home from an area bar and Inky just ''stopped" and had to be dragged a short distance home, the affidavit notes.

Investigation of the area around Miller's home uncovered blood stains and feces, which police said belonged to the dog. Police said the feces was located in an area where Inky did not typically go to the bathroom.

In this sad case, a seeing eye dog (worth over $60,000 in donated funds) was savagely killed by a deranged blind handler, who received a minimum prison sentence of only 130 days.

http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/2003-May/000128.html

Joe Sikora of Bristol, who is blind and uses a guide dog, attended yesterday's hearing. He said he wanted a sentence to reflect the loss of a special dog. "I wanted the maximum," Sikora said. "I wanted the proceedings to show the damage that was done beyond Inky."

The Guide Horse Foundation is very sensitive to mental illness among the blind and carefully screens and checks references for all Guide Horse Candidates.  As a population, blind people have a far higher rate of drug abuse and mental programs than the population at-large:

http://www1.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/hrsa/dasa/fs11119ER0604.pdf

A cause for concern is the high rate of alcohol or drug (AOD) disorders and mental illness among aged, blind, and disabled fee-for-service clients who make frequent visits to the emergency room (ER):

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