Service dog advocates 'hopeful' for pilot project

Alberta’s new pilot project allowing more schools to train qualified service dogs has advocates “hopeful” certifying the helper animals will become easier.

“I’ve heard from many Albertans with disabilities that qualified service dogs make a real difference in their day-to-day lives, and contribute to emotional and psychological well-being of those who rely on them,” Irfan Sabir, minister of community and social services said in a press release.

M.J., who previously spoke with the Eagle and requested to be identified only be her initials due to privacy and safety concerns, said she has already registered her golden retriever with one of the listed schools.

“We are very interested to see how the pilot project will come together and how the public access/provincial service dog registration will work,” M.J. said.

“We are also hoping that the method to register a service dog discrimination complaint will be more clear and with a better system than filing a human rights complaint - which can be a very difficult and triggering process, especially for someone with mental health difficulties.”

The advocate, who founded Western Service Dog Advocacy and has since amalgamated with Alberta Service Dog Community for a “stronger voice,” said she had previously run into accommodation issues with her privately trained service dog but is ‘hopeful’ the pilot project will make the laws more clear.

M.J. said she made the decision to personally train her dog because she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), military sexual trauma (MST), severe anxiety and physical injuries, and she wanted her dog to suit her specific needs.

Before the pilot project was announced, the only qualified service dogs school nationally recognized was Assistance Dogs International (ADI), and only one of the 15 approved programs on the list was located in Alberta.

“Currently there is still very little information on what we can expect so we are still advising that all Alberta service dogs continue training to the ADI standard and to the BC public access test,” M.J. said.

Under the pilot, service dogs previously trained at schools or by their owners can take a test administrated by a school on the pilot list to become a qualified service dog in Alberta.

Starting this month to August, a $250,000 grant will be shared between six different organizations for the new Service Dogs Qualifications Regulation pilot project.

For more go to alberta.ca.