On Sunday, people and their pets are invited to head down to Vermilion Park for the 8th Annual Walk for Dog Guides, which looks to raise money for six different dog guide training programs. The Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides have provided specially trained Dog Guides to over 2,500 eligible Canadians at no cost, although it can cost up to $25, 000 to train one dog.
Dog guides are used to help people with a variety of conditions including:
- people who are blind or visually impaired
- people who are deaf or hard of hearing
- people who have epilepsy
- children who have autism spectrum disorder
- people who have type 1 diabetes with hypoglycemic unawareness
Justin Thompson, the second Vice President of the Vermilion Lions Club says these disabilities affect everyone.
“Whether or not you have someone in your life who has been impacted by these kind of disabilities, you probably know someone who knows someone.”
He goes on to say, “every bit that we can do to get more dogs trained and available to those who need them is a real service.”
Thompson adds that everyone is welcome.
“I would like to emphasize it’s open to anyone whether they have a dog or not, we’d love to have as many folks as possible come and enjoy the day with us and meet some new furry friends.”
Registration begins at 1 p.m., the walk starts at 2 p.m. and a barbecue is to follow. The fundraising goal for this year is $3,000.
For more information you can check out the Walk For Dog Guides website.
