[Blindtlk] Response to Peter Donahue

Fri Mar 22 12:04:17 UTC 2013

Peter,
    It is very easy to criticize what our organization is not doing to meet 
our individual expectations while ignoring the many initiatives that are 
making a global difference. As a case in point, I submit to you our Guide 
Dog Consumers' Bill of Rights that our membership passed unanimously in 2011 
that is attached to this message. We are making progress on these issues, 
albeit not the speed at which you expect us to make. It is very easy to 
criticize our decisions from the sidelines. It is far more difficult to roll 
up one's sleeves and get in the trenches to remove the barricades.
    As for an NFB-style guide dog training program, I have been hearing of 
your desire to create this program for several years. What have you done to 
make this a reality? Have you formed the corporate structure to raise the 
funds to build it? Have you even written a business plan to guide its 
creation? It seems to me your desire is to have someone else do the work and 
they, again, are not meeting this expectation. I believe there are a couple 
of existing programs that are very close to what I would envision from such 
a program and, rather than reinventing the wheel, I prefer to work with the 
currently existing pretty good wheel to make it the really great wheel. 
Leveraging the structure that is already in place is so much more efficient!
    Though there is not - and never will be - a perfect guide dog training 
program, we are shifting the paradigm and getting really close to the 
critical mass of consciousness that will create the shift very soon! Rather 
than being so quick to criticize, perhaps it would be good to join us in 
unity of purpose and action. Angry rhetoric and absolutistic thinking 
neither welcomes dialogue nor encourages participation.

Fraternally yours,
Marion Gwizdala, President
National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU)
National Federation of the Blind
813-626-2789
President at NAGDU.ORG
HTTP://WWW.NAGDU.ORG


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 1:29 PM
Subject: [Blindtlk] NFB Guide Dog School


> Hello Cheryl and everyone,
>
>    I've discussed this with Marion privately and suggested that an item
> concerning the creation of an NFB-run guide dog program be put on the 
> NAGDU
> agenda to no avail.  I was at last year's NAGDU Meeting and was very
> disgusted with the reaction of the audience when Marion addressed the 
> group
> concerning the continued practice of ownership retention by guide dog
> programs. Few if anyone applauded his remarks and there was hardly any 
> call
> for a more aggressive response to ending this practice. If things have
> changed when I see picket lines go up in front of the grounds of guide dog
> schools that still retain ownership of the dogs it places with its blind
> students than I'll know there is a new spirit of concerted action within
> NAGDU. I'll be watching the Braille Monitor for this year's NAGDU Agenda 
> to
> see what new item will be included or if it's going to be the
> same-old-same-old!
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 11:05 AM
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Canes and Dogs, the In-House Checkup
>
>
> The only way any of this is going to happen is to come to national
> convention and come to the NAGDU meeting and work on it together. We are 
> an
> organization, and we should all work together, and if that doesn't work 
> then
> you get the people in that division that will do it.
>
> Disabled Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 of NY State
> Leading the Way in Independent Travel!SNG Certified - Accessible Travel
> Advocate!Cheryl Echevarria,
> Ownerhttp://www.echevarriatravel.com631-456-5394reservations@echevarriatravel.comhttp://www.echevarriatravel.wordpress.com2012
> Norwegian Cruise Line University Advisory Board Member.
> Affiliated as an independent contractor with Montrose TravelCST -
> #1018299-10Echevarria Travel and proud member of the National Federation 
> of
> the Blind will be holding a year round fundraiser for the
> http://www.NFBNY.org after Hurricane Sandy and other resources. Any 
> vacation
> package booked between November 6 2012-November 6, 2013 and vacation must 
> be
> traveled no later than 12/30/2014 a percentage of my earnings will go to 
> the
> affiliate.  Also is you book a Sandals for couples or Beaches for families
> and friends resorts vacation, $100.00 per booking will go to the affiliate
> as well.  You do not need to be a member of the NFB.org, just book through
> us.
>
>
>> From: justin.williams2 at gmail.com
>> To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
>> Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:04:07 -0400
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Canes and Dogs, the In-House Checkup
>>
>> No, pamper the dogs.  They work hard and they deserve it.  I like the
>> other
>> stuff you said though.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Julie J.
>> Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 9:08 AM
>> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Canes and Dogs, the In-House Checkup
>>
>> I think the answer to protecting the dogs is two fold.  First I would
>> like to see a more in depth background investigation of the blind
>> applicant.  Do a criminal background check, require more references, ask
>> the neighbors...whatever it takes.  Adoption agencies place children
>> into homes surely we can figure out a way to more accurately know what
>> sort of situation the dog will be placed into.  Secondly, I think there
>> are already agencies in place for dealing with animal abuse, the police
>> and animal control.  I don't see any reason why these agencies can't be
>> used in cases of neglect or abuse.
>>
>> In regard to cost and the blind applicant absorbing the cost of the dog
>> in order to own the dog outright is an extremely valid point.  We have
>> to stop expecting everything for nothing.  I like the Seeing Eye's
>> concept of charging the student.  I do wish that the cost had increased
>> over the years with the cost of living.  It has been $150 since the
>> beginning of the school in 1928.  I think that's the right year.  $150
>> was a very different sum of money then and now.
>>
>> I also think that guide dogs can be raised and trained for substantially
>> lower sums of money than $60,000.  If you look at the various guide dog
>> programs and how much each claims it costs to train a dog, the numbers
>> vary widely.  All those buildings, fancy food, excessive equipment and
>> other niceties cost money.
>>
>> Julie
>>
>>
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>>
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>
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