Seeing Eye Dogs Australia – Winter Appeal 2010
Photo: Please be a puppy sponsor!
So far: 558 puppy sponsors
Photo: Pup pleads for public support.
Photo: AdShel promotional poster.
This year marks 50 years of Seeing Eye Dogs working alongside Australians who are blind or have low vision.
To ensure the challenges of the next 50 years can be met, 5,000 new sponsors are urgently needed for puppies in training - the Seeing Eye Dogs of the future.
As a Seeing Eye Puppy sponsor donating less than $1 a day, you would receive cute photos of your Seeing Eye puppy plus regular updates telling of their adventures and antics. It's a fuss-free and fun way to experience all the joy's of dog ownership.
As a sponsor, you also receive the satisfaction of knowing you are helping to train a dog that will one day give the gift of safe and independent mobility to someone who is vision impaired.
It takes two years and costs $30,000 to train a pup to act as the eyes of someone who is blind. However, through the combined generosity of many supporters, a puppy's sponsors will together pay for the young dog's training and care.
'Unity' was one such puppy. Today, thanks to the generous Australians who sponsored him, he now proudly walks alongside Nick. Nick lost his sight at age seven, when a pair of automatic supermarket doors malfunctioned, striking his head. The retinas in both his eyes detached, leaving him totally and permanently blind.
At 11 Nick received cane training and was thrilled at the independence it gave him. Over the next 35 years, he used a cane to get to work, attend engagements and travel.
"My cane had served me well," he says. "But over the years it required more and more concentration. I was ready for a Seeing Eye Dog.
"When I first met Unity I hugged him and thought 'This is my dog! He is a wonderful companion who takes a load off when I'm moving about.
"My great friend Unity has truly changed my life."
Nick is one of 300,000 Australians who are vision impaired. This number will double by 2020, so your help is needed to meet the rising demand for Seeing Eye Dogs.
Please help a golden anniversary pup to become a gold-star companion for an Australian who is blind or has low vision.
Be a puppy sponsor!
Find out more
Latest news
Multimedia gallery
Photos
Photo: Pups like Yuma and Yorick from the class of 2010 need you to sponsor them!
Photo: SEDA's 50th birthday celebrations brought V8 racing champion Will Davison racing to party with the pups.
Photo: Look out for SEDA 50th birthday posters around the Melbourne metropolitan area.
Videos and interviews
Paws for a moment - Seeing Eye Dogs Australia newsletter
The Autumn issue of 'paws for a moment' features plenty of stories about our dogs at all stages of their training - from puppies who are learning about the world from the security of our wonderful carers' homes to our recent graduates who are busy changing lives.
Policy & advocacy
Assistance animals review
Vision Australia has called for a stronger legal framework to actively promote the positive rights of people with disability who use assistance animals to access the community as they so choose and on an equal basis as their sighted peers.
This is a response to the Victorian Law Reform’s inquiry into Victorian legislative provisions for people who use assistance animals such as Seeing Eye Dogs.