[nagdu] ownership

[Cindy Ray]

I personally feel that for the school to retain ownership, the message is loud and clear "As blind people, you might not be able to care for that dog, so we will protect it from your ineptness." If you buy a dog at a kennel, and especially if it is pure bred, while they may do some background check on you, and while they may check out how things are going after a few weeks, they don't retain ownership of the dog. That dog is yours, sealed, signed, and delivered. The dog is your dog no matter who owns that dog, but in principal it just smacks of custodialism. And Mariea, you are right, people probably know when they go to such schools that the school retains the ownership, but I'm not sure that matters much. Of course, I've said the very same thing about getting to know the puppy raiser; fact is, these things ought to be your decision and not the school's. You should know that when you leave, you own the dog. Well, put another way, I believe we should, have that right.

Cindy Lou