Assistance dog Sienna retrieving a mobile phone that had fallen out of trainer Paul Adrian’s pocket. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: Besides seeing-eye dogs, there will soon be more assistance dogs in Singapore to support those who are deaf or have physical disabilities.
To ensure these working canines help their companions with special needs overcome some of their daily challenges, more access will be extended to them in public housing, public transport and food places.
Guide dogs trained to lead the blind or visually impaired are currently allowed in such places, but access will also be extended to assistance dogs that support people with other disabilities.
Assistance dogs matched to people with disabilities living in Housing Board flats by charity organisation K9Assistance can also live with their handlers in the flats, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Eric Chua announced on Friday (June 28).
Like seeing-eye dogs, most assistance dogs are usually labrador retrievers, which are not allowed in HDB flats. Other assistance dogs may be of other breeds.
“Agencies such as the Land Transport Authority and the Singapore Food Agency are also working out the necessary details to allow such assistance dogs on public transport and licensed food establishments,” Chua said, speaking at the K9Assistance Partners Appreciation Breakfast attended by more than 80 representatives from government, diplomatic, social services and business communities.
He also said that the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), which issued guidance in 2019 on guide dogs for the blind, would revise its advice to encompass assistance dogs supporting people with physical disabilities, visual impairment and the deaf and hard of hearing.
A spokesman for Muis told The Straits Times that its advice regarding assistance dogs is still being refined and will be ready “in the coming months”.
There are currently nine active working assistance dogs in Singapore, all of which are guide dogs for the blind. Eight of the nine were trained and paired by Guide Dogs Singapore. The ninth dog came directly from Australia.
Singapore’s first guide dog was brought here from Australia in 1982. However, due to the lack of public support and facilities then, the dog had to be returned.
The door was opened for guide dogs here only in 2005, when blind businessman Kua Cheng Hock, now 68, brought his guide dog Kendra into Singapore, and received support from MPs and government agencies he approached.
The labrador, which was born and trained in California, died of a heart attack in 2014, aged 11.
K9Assistance, a registered charity founded in April 2020, has been working with the Government to give these assistance dogs and their owners access to more public spaces.
Its executive director, Cassandra Chiu, who lost her sight at the age of eight due to a rare genetic eye disease and who has a guide dog, said the benefits “should not just remain within the blind community”.
“As a disabled person, I hope other types of disabilities could also benefit from these tremendous life-changing benefits... and I think that’s why it’s so important that we have the support from stakeholders and the different segments of the community,” she said.
“K9Assistance had been working very hard over the last couple of years to get the different levels of support from businesses and from members of the public.”
More than 50 businesses across the different industries have pledged their support in welcoming assistance dog teams onto their premises and to educate front-line staff and customers.
Singapore’s approach to disability inclusion is guided by its Enabling Masterplan and to enable those with disabilities to live independently.
Chua noted that physical and social environments are being changed to be more inclusive of people with disabilities.
This includes improving accessibility of public spaces and buildings, enhancing public transport infrastructure to help them navigate independently, and educating the general public on disability to encourage more positive mindsets and attitudes.
People with disabilities’ access to community activities, such as mainstream sports, recreation and social activities, and resources are through Enabling Services Hubs, the first of which was launched in August 2023.
Chua said that SG Enable will be launching two more in 2025.
Like her predecessor Kendra, Sienna the four-year-old labrador retriever is also paving the way for canines helping people – this time with special needs other than blindness.
She is Singapore’s first ambassador for the different trained assistance dogs here, and made her debut at the June 28 event by demonstrating how an assistance dog would help those living with different disabilities.
For instance, if a physically impaired handler were to drop his mobile phone without realising it, Sienna would retrieve the device and nudge it into his hand.
Ahead of the phased changes, K9Assistance will step up its engagement with businesses and the public through campaigns targeting various sectors and communities.
The charity will also raise funds for the training of assistance dogs before they can be brought into Singapore and placed with disabled handlers at no cost. - The Straits Times/ANN
