A new book entitled Taiwan's First Seeing-Eye Dog: I was Proud to Walk By Your Side by Ke Ming-chi (柯明期) tells the tale of her dog Aggie, the first seeing-eye dog in Taiwan and her turbulent journey toward greater urban mobility.
According to dog trainer Lee Hsin-yi (李欣怡) at the HuiKuang Guide Dog Center, the right of passage for seeing-eye dogs through Taipei's public transportation system has been a long time in coming for Aggie and her owner.
"We started lobbying for laws allowing seeing-eye dogs to enter all buses, trains, and MRT stations nine years ago, when Aggie was only one year old," Lee said.
This June, the Legislative Yuan finally approved the proposal.
Yet Aggie, with the prime of her life behind her, has retired from seeing-eye dog duties. An elderly man, who asked to be known only as Dr. Wang, adopted the dog for her remaining years.
Figures from the Taiwan Guide Dog Association indicate that there are only 10 trained seeing-eye dogs in the nation. The concept of seeing-eye dogs is a foreign idea to most Taiwanese, officials at the association said. Blind Taiwanese people traditionally rely on walking sticks or family members' guidance, they said.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) worked with the Committee for the Blind of Taiwan beginning in 1991 to bring in seeing-eye dogs to the nation after seeing them in action on a visit to San Francisco.
As the first seeing-eye dog in Taiwan, Australian-born Aggie had to receive training in Japan before hitting the streets of Taipei in 1996. Specialized personnel at HuiKaung had to receive training in New Zealand before they were qualified to train new puppies because at the time, no such program existed here.
According to Lee Hsin-yi, seeing-eye dogs are easily recognizable by their harnesses, but are often forcibly deterred from entering stores or MRT stations.
"Public consciousness of the dogs is low, so people often prevent them from doing their duty," Lee said.
Rough handling of the dogs may confuse them and endanger their blind owners, she added.
HuiKaung staff members say that all their dogs are gentle Labradors with carefully chosen pedigrees. Young dogs under a year old go through comprehensive training in host families. Wearing clearly marked red vests, the puppies are taken on test walks through different environments.
Lee said that all dogs are housebroken before they are taken into the city, and urged store owners obey the law and not to obstruct the training process.
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