Miller’s Dale and District W.I. met in St. John’s Institute in Tideswell, as their usual venue – Litton Village Hall was closed for decorating.
The business part of the evening was concluded promptly. Then Judy, our president, introduced the speaker Sue Walker who had come to talk to us about Guide Dogs. Sue is blind and came with her guide dog called Benson, and her friend Liz who also brought her guide dog called Pixie.
Both ladies gave us an amazing insight into how much the quality of their lives had been improved by having a guide dog; these dogs are both good friends and life-savers for their owners.
The cost of a guide dog from birth to death is £55,000 – this includes both training and regular visits to the vets for check-ups. If a dog undergoes training but does not quite meet the required standard, the dog will be taken on by other organisations such as Buddy dogs or drug-checking agencies. These dogs are trained, working dogs and when wearing their harness they are ‘working’.
Judy thanked both Sue and Liz and their dogs – Benson and Pixie – who had behaved impeccably. We had all enjoyed a thoroughly informative and most pleasant evening.
For our next meeting we will be back at Litton Village Hall; this is on Wednesday 9th March at 7.30 pm. The Speaker will be Dr. Robert Hunter and his talk is entitled ‘The History of The Coroner’. We are always very pleased to welcome new members, friends and visitors to our area.