Should Guide Dog be Allowed to Use in China's Subway

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　　Recently, a visually impaired¹ man was prevented from taking the subway for the 11th time in Beijing when taking his guide dog with him. This triggered another round of discussion on whether the visually disabled should be allowed to use guide dogs when taking public transportation. Li Dong has the details.

 

　　On July 22 this year, a visually impaired man was stopped by staff at Tian Tongyuan subway station. This marked the 11th time he was rejected by the Beijing subway. Customer service says guide dogs are forbidden on public transportation.

 

　　"Sorry, guide dogs are not allowed on the subway."

 

　　Ping Yali, a gold medal winner in Beijing's 2008 Paralympics says she that she had been optimistic about the temporary regulations issued that year, which enabled disabled people to bring their guide dogs with them when taking public transportation. But Ping Yali says the new policies were discontinued after the Paralympics finished.

 

　　"At that time, I thought that it wouldn't be long before the temporary policy was made into more perfected regulations. But when the Paralympics was over, the policy halted too."

 

　　According to the Law of China on the Protection of Disabled Persons, a visually impaired person who brings a guide dog into a public place shall abide² by the provisions of the state.

 

　　Currently, regulations in Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Chongqing Municipality authorize³ people with visual disabilities to bring their guide dogs with them when taking public transportation.

 

　　But the current regulation in Beijing stipulates⁴ that guide dogs are still regarded as pets and subsequently, their owners are not allowed to take them into markets, stores, restaurants, public gyms and other public community facilities.

 

　　In May, 2006, the China Disabled Person's Federation⁵ authorized⁶ the Dalian Disabled Person's Federation and Dalian Medical University to establish China's first guide dog training base.

 

　　Surveys by the base show that 16 million Chinese people suffer from blindness and visual impairments, so there are many potential users of guide dogs.

 

　　But there are few guide dog organizations in the country and only four to five guide dogs can be offered annually⁷.

 

　　Meanwhile, more than 50,000 people apply for one of the highly trained canines⁸ every year.

 

　　Statistics released in 2008 show the United State has 10,000 guide dogs, Britain has 4,000 and Germany 1,100.

 

　　Chinese universities and colleges have no courses on guide dog training. Although some grads have majored in zoology⁹, they have to learn how to train guide dogs by themselves.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.

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