St Albans shopping centres meet the guide dog it sponsored!
Guide dogs in training have been welcomed into St Albans to meet the shopping centre teams who adopted them.
At the St Albans Chamber of Commerce St George’s Day lunch in April both Christopher Place and The Maltings bid to sponsor Guide Dogs puppies in a charity auction.
The Maltings named the labrador golden retriever pup – Malty, and she will be raised to aid blind and visually impaired people in day to day life.
Malty is currently being looked after by puppy walker, Janet Moore, who will socialise her and prepare her for training. At one year old after becoming used to places a blind person will need help navigating, such as shops, cafes, buses, and cinemas, the dog goes to The National Breeding Centre to train and by age two she will be fully qualified.
Maltings centre manager Phil Corrigan said: “It seemed in fitting with what we do and what the Chamber is doing. She is a gorgeous dog and should make a great companion once she is a fully trained Guide Dog in a couple of years.”
Community fundraising development officer for Guide Dogs, Joanne Landucci, explained why the animals are important.
“It’s the companionship, the freedom, the mobility, and it enables a visually impaired person to gain the freedom they deserve, same as everyone else.”
The average working life of a guide dog is six to seven years and at the end of 2016, there were 5,015 active guide dog owners in the UK.
