EXCITING NEWS: Accessible Off-Leash Service Dog Exercise Facility set to open in Halifax, Nova Scotia!
Written by admin2 on July 29th, 2009Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Campaign Watch
Helen McFadyen—who is chair of the Halifax Regional Municipality’s Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities, a board member of Guide Dog Users of Canada, a member of the blind caucus of equualaccess.org, past president of the Halifax Chapter of the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians, and a much-cherished Irked contributor—recently forwarded us the following advance news release:
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NEWS RELEASE
HRM Opens Service Dog Exercise Facility
(Monday July 27, 2009) – The Service Dogs of Halifax now have a place to safely exercise in a unique, accessible off-leash dog run at the corner of Rainnie Drive and Cogswell Street, adjacent to Centennial Pool.
“HRM has responded to a request for a designated exercise area for service dogs that is safe for the dogs and accessible to their handlers,” said Mayor Peter Kelly. “Preliminary research leads us to believe that this may be one of the first dog runs in North America designed and designated specifically for use by service dogs.”
An estimated 75-80 registered, professionally-trained service dogs provide assistance to the disabled in the Halifax Regional Municipality. They include; guide dogs for the blind, ‘hearing’ dogs for the deaf (which alert to bells, knocking, and alarms), seizure alert dogs for people with epilepsy, and ‘special skills’ dogs trained to perform specific tasks for a person according to their disability or medical condition.
While there are other types of working animals in common use, such as dogs for drug, arson, and explosive detection by RCMP and police, or for Search and Rescue or guarding work, those dogs have access to other venues for exercise. The new Service Dog Exercise Facility offers a centrally-located, fenced area where service dogs can safely be off-leash and still remain close to their handlers.
“It is important that hard-working service dogs get a chance to exercise and have some off-leash down time, like any other dog. The creation of this small exercise facility will provide a safe place for me to take my guide dog without the worry of losing track of her, like I might in a big park. It’s also easy to get here by bus,” said Helen McFadyen, chair of HRM’s Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities.
The Service Dog Exercise Run will be open year-round, daily from dawn to dusk.
“We have a choice to use the gift of our lives to make the world a better place”
—Jane Goodall
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Nice news… I wonder why there’s a lot of news coming out today with regards to off leash dogs. It must be a goal of every owner to turn their puppies into “off leashers”!
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It’s awesome that Nova Scotia is so open to service dogs!