Angela has relied on guide dogs since she was 14-years-old. She said she wouldn’t be able to imagine her life without them. (Jeannie Lin/CHLY 101.7fm)

Angela has relied on guide dogs since she was 14-years-old. At a young age, she struggled with mobility issues and had trouble with everyday tasks. She said she wouldn’t be able to imagine her life without help from guide dogs.

“They're just instrumental, like to be able to do something that so many people without a physical disability take for granted, like going to open a door or take a shoe off, it's a lot more difficult, and with her help, it's just, it's natural, it's automatic, it's something I can do like by myself, and that says a lot because I need so much physical help that even the smallest stuff is a big deal,” Angela said.

Angela has been with her guide dog, 8-year-old Ella, for 6 years now. She received Ella after applying to the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, which provides service dogs at no costs to Canadians with disabilities. Every year they raise money by organizing walks in more than 200 communities across the country. Anita Holmboe is the coordinator for the Nanaimo Lions Foundation Dog Walk, which has been running since 2007. Holmboe explained why community support and donations are important to the organization.

“It takes about $30,000 to $35,000 for a person to have a dog that’s trained for their disability. It’s not really attainable for most people, and our dog walk across Canada on this day raises funds so that these dogs can be provided to the people who are needing them,” said Holmboe.

The Nanaimo dog walk took place the morning of May 31. at Maffeo Sutton Park. Dogs, along with their owners, began the walk at the Lions Pavilion, making their way along the waterfront towards the Nanaimo Yacht Club before looping back. The goal of the Nanaimo fundraiser this year is $3,000. So far, the fundraisers have reached $400.

“The number of people who are in need of these dogs is quite substantial. We need to be able to continue this. Without volunteers and people coming out and donating, people wouldn’t be able to have a dog guide,” said Holmboe.

One mission of the Lions Foundation is to instill confidence in people with disabilities by allowing them to be independent.

“We see firsthand, being with the Lions, people who have dog guides and how it’s been so beneficial for them. It's been giving them the confidence. One fellow in particular, was a young fellow. He was having seizures and was not able to go to school by himself because at school he could possibly have a seizure, so his mom would have to go with him. And as he got older, that was becoming problematic. So he ended up getting a dog guide for seizures. This dog transformed his life,” said Holmboe.

Loyal Weger is a sales associate at Northern Nanaimo Bosley’s. He joined the walk on Sunday to help raise awareness for guide dogs. He explained the wide range of issues that dogs are trained to help with.

“They cover everything from general service dogs helping people who are having trouble with walking, mobility issues. We have seizure assistance, diabetes control for people with blood sugar issues. Then we have autism assistance as well as people who have visual impairments, and then we even have dogs that provide PTSD support for police departments, fire departments, people going through PTSD issues,” said Weger.

Angela says another reason for the walk is to educate the public on why it’s important to not pet working service dogs. She talked about past experiences she had in public.

“They pet her over top of the do not pet sign, and I'm just like, oh my gosh, really? And a lot of people, when I say I'm sorry, she can't be petted, they kind of step back,” said Angela.

Angela explained that petting service dogs can cause real damage to the people who rely on them.

“The fact that you can't pet them is because they need to be focused on what they're doing and petting them and or distracting them, it interrupts that, and it's really important that as hard as it is, that you follow the do not pet because it is essential for the people that have the dogs in terms of their safety,” said Angela.

The Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides has the goal of raising $1,600,000 dollars this year. Dog walks at other cities across the country will take place all the way until September.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.