I was pleased to be able to join the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and hear first-hand from guide dog owners about their on-going campaign to tackle discrimination.
Whilst it quite rightly remains against the law to refuse access to a disabled person accompanied with the assistance of a guide dog, a recent survey found that three out of four assistance dog owners have been turned away because of their dog.
I found it disturbing to hear how common these incidents of discrimination are for assistance dog owners. No one should be turned away on their local high street because of their assistance dog.
I support Guide Dogs’ Access All Areas campaign to tackle the ignorance that causes access refusals, and make sure businesses are held accountable when they occur and I was pleased to be able to attend and support the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association event.