The airline, easyJet, has offered an apology to Joanna who was stopped from getting aboard her flight due to her guide dog’s papers.

Joanna Jones was forced to fly from Belfast to Gatwick with her guide dog aboard a completely different airline.

The dog did have on a collar tag and a harness, that’s given to official guide dogs, but Joanna was informed that the dog required a certificate for the return journey.

The airline did transfer Joanna to another flight after they were contacted by the Guide Dogs Association in Belfast.

Barry Toner, Joanna’s fiancé, who also requires an assistance dog, spoke of how he had a telephone call from Joanna telling him how easyJet had said she was unable to board her flight. Barry said:

“She said they were asking for a certificate to prove that her dog was, in fact, a guide dog, despite the fact the dog was wearing an official guide dog harness and had the guide dog medallion on its collar.”

“This certificate they were asking for, we simply are not given one. It’s not a document that I or other guide dog owners that I spoke to online have ever heard of.”

Mr Toner spoke of a similar situation with the airline in the past but he had ultimately been permitted access to the flight.

Andrew McConnell, easyJet’s corporate affairs manager, said that easyJet were pleased to welcome passengers with guide dogs and have hundreds flying with them each and every year.

“However, in line with CAA guidelines, easyJet’s regulations make clear that documentation must be carried showing that they are a trained guide dog,” he said.

“Guide dogs receive intensive training from accredited organisations to ensure that they can cope with the conditions on-board an aircraft.”

“In this case, unfortunately Miss Jones did not have this documentation with her and by the time it was faxed through she missed her flight.”

“EasyJet staff offered every assistance to Miss Jones and transferred her free of charge onto the first available easyJet flight this morning.”

John Welsman, transport policy officer for The Guide Dogs Association, did say that easyJet had followed the correct flight guidelines in this situation:

“While what happened to Ms Jones is unfortunate, airlines do have rules which say that assistance dog owners must provide proof of their dog’s status.”

“Those rules are in place to protect passenger safety, and we would remind all our guide dog owners to carry their ID cards with them at all times.”

Founded by three Detroit area Lions Club members in 1939, Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester is there to provide the blind with a trained guide dog. This scheme was so successful that around 270 people every year are placed with a completely trained up dog as their guide, and this is a free of charge service for them.

There are about one in three of the puppies that make it through the training regime and then become a fully-fledged working guide dog for the visually impaired. This means that there must be many puppies trained each year in order to supply the demand.

Leader Dogs provides those acting as puppy trainers with classes, an instructional DVD, a Puppy Raising Manual and any other assistance for all the volunteers who want to train their puppy efficiently for the scheme. Dedication to ensure consistent training and the daily care necessary for the puppies will also require a lot of positive reinforcement. Many of the dogs trained by the scheme are either Golden Retrievers or Labradors, with only around 15 per cent being German Shepherds.

When the dogs are around a year to a year and a half old, they will go back for four months to Leader Dogs, where they will receive formal in-harness experience to complete their course.
After this in-harness experience, the dogs that pass can then be paired up with a visually impaired recipient and then complete 26 more days of training together. If this is successful then they can become full time partners on a daily basis.

Dogs that can’t be taken on as trained guide dogs can either be entered in to other areas of work, such as becoming service dogs, or may possibly become pets. At this time, the puppy trainer volunteers have first refusal for taking the dog on as a pet.

Dogs will be visiting the House Veterans Affairs Committee for their help with September 11th and will be receiving the first-ever American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards for their help and bravery in the Pentagon, Iraq and also at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. The awards will be televised and will be set to air on the Hallmark Channel.

One of the lucky recipients will include Roselle, who is a seeing-eye dog, that calmly led its handler, Michael Hingson, down the 78 flights of stairs in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11 as it was burning.

Another of the prize winners will be a dog that served over in Iraq and now assists with helping to comfort those soldiers who are suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder after the events of, and those following, September 11th.

After weeks of the American people voting for who they think is the most deserving dog, the names of the top dogs will be revealed in all of the following categories; Military Dogs, Hearing Dogs, Guide Dogs, Law Enforcement and Arson Dogs, Therapy Dogs, Service Dogs, Search and Rescue Dogs and Emerging Hero Dogs to honour “ordinary dogs who do extraordinary things.”

“Hero Dogs come in all shapes, sizes and breeds,” says Dr. Robin Ganzert, president and CEO of American Humane Association.

“I’m proud to know that so many of our nation’s governors recognize the important work thousands of dogs in each state do every day to keep millions of Americans safe, healthy and happy”.

When readers of the Daily Mail heard of these two special dogs searching for a home together, they were inundated with dog lovers everywhere offering to give them a loving home.

The family deemed most suitable to continue the care for these dogs was the Williams family from Crewe in Cheshire. The dogs will now leave their current home at the Dogs Trust centre in Shrewsbury and will start their new lives at a new home.

Lily, now six, was just a young puppy when it was discovered she was suffering from a rare condition that meant her eyelashes started to grow inwards, into her eyes, causing incurable damage to her eyesight.

Thankfully, her canine friend Maddison, now seven, led Lily everywhere and started to function as her eyes. The two are now always together and Lily makes sure she touches Lily to ensure she knows the way.

The dog’s owner at the time found it difficult to care for the two dogs after this terrible incident and had to send them to the centre for re-homing.

Anne and Len Williams, saw the news story and immediately knew they wanted with the two dogs. They put an offer in for the dogs and were delighted when the trust accepted it.

Mrs Williams spoke about the dogs, saying:

‘We’ve always had two dogs together, I like them to have company and so taking on two of them wasn’t a daunting prospect. My daughter moved out five months ago, taking her two English setters with her, so the house has felt a little quiet without them.

‘We live in the countryside and I miss having a reason to go for a walk – I can’t wait to take the dogs out with us. We’ve also got a lovely big garden so it’s the perfect setting for two huge dogs.’

Manager of the Dogs Trust in Shrewsbury, Louise Campbell said: ‘This is the happy ending we were all hoping for and everyone is delighted for Lily and Maddison.

‘The Williams family were the perfect match and we know they’ll give the dogs all the love and fuss they so deserve.’

The savage incident lasted more than five minutes, as staff leaped to the defence of two-year-old Una and tried repeatedly to free her from the jaws of a bull terrier in the Duke Street outlet of Tesco.

Elaine MacKenzie, who owns Una, recounted the terrifying incident to The Scotsman:

“I popped in to do a bit of shopping and as I walked towards the exit I stopped to make sure I’d put everything in my bag and all of a sudden this dog, that was tied to the shopping baskets holder, just flew at us.

“Una made a noise that can only be described as a scream as this dog got hold of her, trailing shopping baskets behind it.

“I tried hitting it with the lead as customers and staff came over to help and, eventually, they did manage to get the dog off.”

A shocked Una was left with bite marks across her neck and chest. Even so, Ms MacKenzie, 58, thinks she is a lucky Labrador as the attack could have been much worse, and spelled the end of Una’s days as a guide dog – she is still traumatised, and refuses to enter the supermarket any more.

The attacks happened as statistics of attacks on guide dogs were published by Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre. The author of the report, Rachel Moxon, found that the majority of incidents happened without provocation, with the offending dogs not being on leads or otherwise under control by their owners. Presently, three guide dogs have had to retire from duty due to being attacked, whilst another pair are being evaluated for further duty. Ms Moxon commented:

“The other major impact is that blind and partially sighted people are left without a guide dog and become housebound until another suitable dog can be matched up.”

Michael Hingson was sat at his desk in his place of work on the morning of September 11th on the 78th floor of the north World Trade Centre tower when American Airlines flight 11 devastated the building 18 levels above him. Unlike many unfortunate victims, Mr Hingson lived to tell his tale thanks to Roselle, his guide dog.

Cool as a cucumber, the labrador led Mr Hingson, who is blind, down 1,463 steps to exit the building, before guiding him to safety in a nearby subway station whilst the south tower fell to the ground nearby.

Sadly, Roselle, who was 13, passed away in June, but she took the biggest share of over 400,000 voes cast on the website for the American Humane Association (AHA).

In support of her bravery, Mr Hingson wrote on the website:

“While everyone ran in panic, Roselle remained totally focused on her job.”

“While debris fell around us, and even hit us, Roselle stayed calm.”

Mr Hingson attended the award ceremony in Los Angeles along with the other seven finalists and a gaggle of celebrities, including Mark Hamill, Betty white and Whoopi Goldberg.

After the winner was announced, President of the AHA said:

“Every day, across America, dogs protect, comfort, and give their unconditional friendship and affection to the ill, the infirm, the wounded veteran, and the frightened child.”

“It was time to recognize the contributions of man’s best friends and celebrate the heroic feats they have performed for us every day.”

Hospitals have seen advances in technology with biopsies and CAT scans that confirm cancer and people getting blood tests done that will confirm diabetes. However there is a new tool that can be used too help detect these illnesses. Dogs.

Dogs are able to detect signs of illnesses in humans and in a lot of cases are proving more accurate and quicker results that are much more cost effective than laboratory tests. They can detect signs of Skin, lung, breast, and ovarian cancers by their sense of smell according to a scientific study that was carried out.

Training for service dogs has also now expanded and dogs are learning new skills. They are now able to alert diabetics when they sense they have a serious drop in their blood sugar levels. Dogs can also help autistic children socialise and help patients that are sufferings from post-traumatic stress disorder. Dogs are also able to alert a deaf parent when they hear their baby cry.

“Dogs are pack animals, programmed to please,” says Rebecca Johnson, Ph.D., R.N., associate professor at the University of Missouri’s College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction. “They’re trained to do extraordinary things.”

Mr Lee stated:

“I went into the café in Mill Road with a friend last Wednesday. The waitress came up and said you can’t have any dogs in here.”

He tried to talk to the cafe manager but they still maintained that he must leave.

To avoid confrontation, the three left however Mr Lee still remains upset about what happened, adding:

“I was really offended. We hadn’t been there before. Normally we go to the Salvation Army but it was closed. We only wanted a cooketd breakfast.”

Mr Lee became blind because of an eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which he has suffered with as a teenager, meaning he had to be registered blind by 25.

He used to have a white stick to aid his walking however, as his sight got worse, to avoid a feeling of isolation he got his guide dog Vinnie.

Guide Dogs for the Blind Association campaign manager, David Cowdrey, said:

“Guide dog owners, such as Mr Lee, and other assistance dog owners rely on their dogs for mobility and independence.”

“This is recognised in the Equality Act 2010, which requires restaurants and other service providers not to discriminate against disabled people – including those with guide or assistance dogs – in how they provide their service.”

“However we regularly receive complaints that guide dog owners have been refused access with their dogs, which can be very distressing.”

Osman Dogor was head waiter at the cafe. He defended his actions by saying:

“The staff members are scared of dogs and I have allergies to dogs. I came to him and told him we can’t have dogs in the café because I’m allergic to them.”

“I just politely told him to leave, it may be against the law, I don’t know. I didn’t say that I didn’t need his custom because I care about all of my customers.”

“He is welcome to sit near the door and leave the dog outside.”

Graham Waspe, from Stowmarket, decided to adopt a second guide dog to assist him and Edward in getting around. The new dog, 2 year old Opal, soon became firm friends with them both, and now fills in Edward’s duties admirably.

Mr Waspe, 60, said:

“They’ve become quite good friends and get on happily together.”

“There are certain times I’m sure where Opal will help and Edward is happier by having another dog around.”

Mr Waspe and his wife Sandra were heartbroken when Edward had his eyes surgically removed last year after he developed an incurable eye disease. Mr Waspe recounted:

“I was so worried whether he would be happy or not. I was just crying and crying, but he was happy and smiling.”

“The Animal Health Trust was so good with him and, apart from not being able to see, he is just the same.”

The couple are dedicated speakers on behalf of guide dogs, and acknowledge how much of a difference the independence they grant has affected their lives. They also visit many local schools to raise awareness. However, since his operation, Edward has won more admirers; two employees of Specsavers have been inspired by him to undertake a sponsored skydive to raise cash for Guide Dogs.

Yvonne Saint-John of Glinton, Peterborough, claimed that she was ripped off by Eagle Cars, who she said had been overcharged several times by the heartless cab hire company, including one instance where she was stung for an extra £2.50 in case her black Labrador, Quaid, had left any hairs on the car seats which would require cleaning up.

Mrs Saint-John said of the incident:

“I rely on my guide dog to get from A to B and to have a social life. He is my lifeline and it’s not fair to be charged extra.

“It had never happened before. My dog hardly moves once he is in the cab to drop any hairs, so it was ridiculous to charge me more.”

Incensed, Yvonne, who is a grandmother, brought the matter to the attention of council officials in Peterborough.

Eagle cars was hauled before magistrates and ordered to stump up £900 in compensation to Mrs Saint-John.

There is disability discrimination legislation in place which bans any such firms for imposing an extra charge for guide dogs. Quaid will have been chosen to be a guide dog as a puppy. Training for such an important job is intense, and many dogs don’t make the grade.

Mrs Saint-John said of her victory:

“I thought twice about speaking out as I did not want to be further victimised but I feel this sends a strong message to other disabled people.”

Eagle Cars has so far refused to comment on the matter.

We at Dream Dogs think that Quaid will no doubt share in the windfall, with maybe a brand new dog bed and lots of dog toys.