A second guide dog has arrived in Hong Kong to go into training for a future role as 'spiritual companion' to a blind person, but there are hurdles to overcome first in a city where many public places and most public transport is off limits to canines.
New arrivals Iris and Google, who arrived in February, were put on public show together for the first time yesterday by the Hong Kong Guide Dogs Association which, as well as training the pair, is working to teach operators of places like restaurants and shopping malls to accept them.
Both dogs were provided by the Taiwan Guide Dog Association as a gesture of goodwill to the Hong Kong association, a non-profit group that promotes the benefits of using such animals.
Founding member Poman Lo is keen to show that guide dogs are not only a practical aid to blind people.
'They are also a spiritual companion,' Lo said. 'Having a guide dog can ease the loneliness that blind people can feel and make them more independent.'
Iris and Google will need up to two years' training. In the meantime, they are in the care of foster families, who have found it difficult to take the dogs to some public places.