[nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?

Tue Jan 10 23:21:28 UTC 2012

Hi Tracy,
I agree with your perception of "guide dog consumer."  I feel that kind of 
language denotes a hierarchy that leaves the dog as little more than a 
consumable commodity.
Best,
Nat and Liam Joshua

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2012 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Consumer or Beneficiary?

>I kind of have a problem with being called a guide dog consumer.  Doesn't
> that sound disgusting?  It's not the ideas expressed that bug me; it's the
> language.  But then, I have a problem with being considered a consumer
> rather than a citizen, in a broader social context.
> I'd say I'm a guide dog client, customer, or handler.  I'd never call
> myself a guide dog consumer. I love my dogs; I would never consume them.
> Tracy
>
>
>>     I agree that most training programs have very paternalistic 
>> approaches
>> and policies as it pertains to their relationships with consumers. Many
>> programs view the blind people with whom they work as beneficiaries and
>> seem
>> to tell them they should be grateful for what they get from them. This
>> sometimes not too subtle message is accepted by the blind person who 
>> feels
>> indebted to what has been given them. Adding to this attitude is the fact
>> that most programs do not charge a fee for their services.
>>     The reality, however, is that we are consumers. Guide dog training
>> programs solicit funding from the public and from private foundations 
>> with
>> the expressed purpose of providing these services to the blind. These
>> donors
>> support the work of the training program and those who work for the
>> training
>> programs are paid to provide these services. The Chief Executive Officers
>> of
>> guide dog training programs are paid 6-figure salaries to run these
>> nonprofit organizations whose sole purpose is to provide guide dogs to
>> blind
>> people. As the recipient of these guide dogs, we are the consumers of
>> these
>> services, no less powerful than the consumers of the goods and services 
>> of
>> any other for-profit corporation. Just as is true with any other company,
>> blind consumers can shape the way a guide dog training program does
>> business
>> through our voices.
>>     A few training programs transfer ownership to the consumer upon
>> completion of training; most do not. Some of those who do not condition
>> their custody of the dog upon specific requirements, such as providing
>> annual vetrinarian reports, and reserve the right to repossess the dog. 
>> To
>> the best of my knowledge, none of those programs that retain ownership
>> and/or the right to repossess the dog have any policies concerning due
>> process. The failure to adopt due process policies can result in
>> repossession without cause.
>>     Lest anyone believe a program would not do such a thing, please read
>> the
>> article in the April Braille Monitor about a Fidelco consumer who had 
>> this
>> very thing happen. This story is only one of many about Fidelco consumers
>> who have been treated this way and Fidelco is not the only program that
>> engages in this sort of behavior. I know of consumers who have been
>> threatened with and actually had their dogs repossessed because of
>> anonymous
>> complaints of abuse, neglect, or out of control dogs with absolutely no
>> objective evidence of such issues. One program that has changed their
>> policy
>> from ownership to custody once repossessed the harnesses of a couple in
>> Florida who obtained their dogs prior to the change in policy based upon
>> the
>> allegations of an administrator with the Division of Blind Services who
>> asserted that the couple had been banned from the Orientation & 
>> Adjustment
>> Center because of their dogs' behavior. In a conversation with the
>> program's
>> Director of training, I was told that, if they did not have ownership, 
>> the
>> dogs would have been repossessed. When I contacted the Director of the 
>> O&A
>> center to inquire why the couple was barred, the Director didn't have a
>> clue
>> what I was talking about. He told me the couple had not been barred and
>> they
>> had no issues with the couple's dogs. The administrator who filed the
>> complaint was demoted. Due process policies would have prevented this
>> unjust
>> action.
>>     I am currently working on another such issue with a consumer from the
>> same program. Anonymous complaints have been filed that the consumer is
>> neglecting his dog. The vetrinarian has asserted the dog is healthy and
>> there is no evidence of abuse or neglect. In spite of this, the program 
>> is
>> attempting to remove the dog and has no due process for the consumer.
>>     The membership of NAGDU has endorsed a guide Dog Consumers' Bill of
>> Rights to protect us from those who would attempt to deny us our basic
>> rights without due process. I encourage each of you to read the Bill of
>> Rights and ask the training program from which you received your dog to
>> abide by it. You can read this Bill of Rights by going to
>>
>> http://www.nfb.org/images/nfb/Publications/bm/bm11/bm1106/bm110609.htm
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Doug Parisian" <eggmann at shaw.ca>
>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 11:03 PM
>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>>
>>
>>> Lyn, I used to allow my dog the run of the place when I ran a business
>>> for
>>> 13 years.  All my dogs new to either return to my office, or go to the
>>> receptionist's station when folks came in.  There were only two of us in
>>> the office and all my dogs knew the chain of command--the pecking order,
>>> me, receptionist, and dog though the latter were reversible.  Most
>>> customers, if they learned I had a dog guide, would ask to see him/her
>>> and
>>> as long as all behaviours were unobtrusive, I would allow it.
>>>
>>> Doug: Just another happy tail!
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Lyn Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 7:35 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>>>
>>>
>>>> The Executive Director of our blind center lets her dog wander around
>>>> and
>>>> it even almost went outside alone!  I was tempted to take the dog and
>>>> put
>>>> him in a room downstairs and wait for the ED to go nuts looking for her
>>>> dog! Hahaha!  Meanie me!
>>>>
>>>> I keep Landon in harness and with me or tied to the table if I'm
>>>> wandering around doing stuff.
>>>>
>>>> Lyn and landon
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "Sheila Leigland" <sleigland at bresnan.net>
>>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2011 11:30 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Victim or Advocate?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Doug actually i think you are right on this one. I know of someone
>>>>> that
>>>>> would take a guide dog and let it walk around because oh It likes to
>>>>> see
>>>>> everyone but I was told by an employee of a buisness that the dog took
>>>>> off out of the door and she had to go catch the dog. They wondered why
>>>>> I
>>>>> didn't let my dog wander and I told them it was improper behavior and
>>>>> not to accept improper behavior like that.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sheila Leiglan d
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>
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