[nagdu] The Truth About Guide Dog Awareness Month

[Marion & Martin]

Linda,
    I am getting more more information so I can write an informed mesage 
about this whole thing! Give me the weekend to learn more!

Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Linda Gwizdak" <linda.gwizdak at cox.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 2:40 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] The Truth About Guide Dog Awareness Month


> THANK YOU MARION!!!!!  You know, people who want to make money will do 
> ANYTHING to acheive that goal - making money and profits!!!!!
>
> Good for you, Marion, for letting us know what is going on so we are 
> truely informed and we can do something about it.  Will a flood of letters 
> or e-mails to PetCo's corporate offices help them to "get it"?  They're 
> only a "Google search" away!
>
> Regards,
>
> Linda and Landon
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Marion & Martin" <swampfox1833 at verizon.net>
> To: "NAGDU List" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2009 4:36 AM
> Subject: [nagdu] The Truth About Guide Dog Awareness Month
>
>
>> Dear All,
>>    Several messages have been circulated about "Guide Dog Awareness 
>> Month", so I wanted to share some facts. This information was shared with 
>> me by the Executive Director of one of the major schools who spoke to me 
>> with the condition of anonimity. Furthermore, Petco contacted me about 
>> this project and, once they found out that we were a consumer 
>> organization that did education and advocacy, were no longer interested 
>> in including us in their project. Read on and you will learn why!
>>    Petco has contacted each of the guide dog schools to ask them to 
>> participate. What is participation? In exchange for endorsing Natural 
>> Balance dog food, allowing natural Balance to use the names of the 
>> schools to show that "the best of the best eat natural Balance", agreeing 
>> to feed it to all of their dogs, and recommending that all of their 
>> graduates do the same, Natural Balance and Petco would make a donation of 
>> a portion of their proceeds during the month of May to that school.
>>    Most of the schools have refused their offer. In the words of the 
>> person who shared this with me, "The name of our school is not for sale!" 
>> the schools feed what they believe to be the best product for their dogs, 
>> not the cheapest and definitely not the one who agrees to give them money 
>> in exchange for the use of their names in order to market their product 
>> as "The best food for guide dogs!"
>>    So why did the representative from Petco abruptly end his call to me? 
>> Was it because we don't have a valuable mission worth supporting? Was it 
>> because we put our focus on the user, not the dog? Was it because we 
>> weren't big enough to have any influence over sales? Was it because we 
>> are blind ourselves and, in true stereotypical thinking, have no 
>> influence? (Blindness means "ignorant", you know!) Perhaps the phrase 
>> "consumer organization" turned him away because we would see through the 
>> sham!
>>    In any case, the blind who actually use the dogs will not get a red 
>> cent of the hundreds of thousands of dollars Petco told me they would 
>> raise as the result of "Guide Dog Awareness Month". neither will most of 
>> the major guide dog schools in the United States, unwilling to compromise 
>> their integrity by endorsing a product. And, I ask, what does natural 
>> Balance, Petco, and paula Abdul know about guide dogs that makes them the 
>> experts to raise awareness about them? It seems Guide Dog Awareness Month 
>> is nothing more than a marketing ploy to sell dog food!
>>
>> Fraternally yours,
>> Marion Gwizdala
>>
>>
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>
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