[Blindtlk] Response to Peter Donahue

Sat Mar 23 03:25:17 UTC 2013

Hi, Marion,  You always manage to come out with messages of good and 
wel-thought out wisdom.

Judy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Marion Gwizdala" <blind411 at verizon.net>
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 6:04 AM
Subject: [Blindtlk] Response to Peter Donahue

> 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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>

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