Artificial insemination the answer to Hong Kong guide dog shortage
Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Services seek at least HK$1 million for laboratory to breed more guide dogs
One of Hong Kong’s two guide dog associations is hoping to raise at least HK$1 million to set up a laboratory to breed guide dogs by artificial insemination, so those in need can get their canine helper faster.
Raymond Cheung Wai-man, chairman of Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Services, said that it takes about two years for a visually impaired person in the city to get a guide dog, with about 20-30 people on their waiting list currently.
With the facility, which will include a sperm bank, breeding of guide dogs by the association can be increased by two to three times, shortening the wait for a guide dog.
“It is like a plan B, if the breeding dogs cannot conceive through natural means, because of reasons like timing and lack of experience, meaning the dogs have not been pregnant in the past, we can use artificial insemination,” said Cheung.
Hong Kong’s first five artificially inseminated future guide dogs, now a month old, met the media for the first time on Wednesday.
The pups still do not have names and the public are invited to donate a minimum of HK$50,000 to name them, but the names should all start with the letter “A”, which stands for artificial insemination.
With a visually-impaired population of roughly 170,000, Hong Kong has fewer than 50 guide dogs.
According to the International Guide Dog Federation, about 1,700 visually-impaired Hongkongers have expressed a wish to have a guide dog.
