People have used animals to do work for them for many years but the need for it has ended.

We now have the technology to replace animal helpers with machinery. It is fine to have a companion that works for you or with you voluntarily, but when it is a requirement to break the animal's spirit in order for it to do your bidding, that is just plain cruel.

There was a time when I saw how well-behaved guide dogs were and admired them to the point where I wanted to get involved. This led me to understand just how these animals are treated. In order to learn to not get underfoot so they don't trip a blind person, they get kicked from a young age if they do not stay alert and move away when a person approaches them. In order for a blind person to find and pick up their feces, they are trained to go to the bathroom at the command of the trainer. Can you imagine being told when to poo and pee? Also, can you imagine how boring it would be for a guide dog to have to sit quietly under a desk all day while the blind owner works at a call centre or other job? These dogs are not allowed to be curious and explore their environments. They are not allowed to go swimming (EVER)! They must exhibit no interest in food or anything else while in a restaurant.These poor animals have been transformed from a curious living entity into a machine that has no mind of its own and no free will.

The estimated published cost of raising a guide dog is roughly $50,000 each. I'm confident that this cost exceeds what it would cost to utilize electronic technology to replace the dog. Plus, some people may be allergic to furry animals, so the dog wouldn't be a viable option for them anyway!

If we can make cars that can drive themselves, surely we can make devices to help guide the blind, without needing to strip animals of their spirit. This would be a far more humane way of accomplishing the same task.

Supporting guide dog organizations is like supporting horse-drawn carriages in the age of automobiles. It is a futile attempt to hold onto an outdated method at the expense of the animals involved.

The Way Forward

Clearly, the use of guide dogs for the blind is an outdated solution. Organizations that produce guide dogs should switch to developing electronic guidance systems or to providing dogs as companions (where they get to be more like an ordinary dog).