Australian airlines are regulated by Australian Law and as such Qantas is regulated by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). They have laws and guidelines in place, which while being required to take the Disability Discriminiation Act into consideration can override that as the safety of the aircraft must come first. They do allow guide and other assistance dogs on board bu only under very stringent criteria. Permission for the dog to be on board, must be granted by CASA, it is not something an individual airline can decide.

They are allowed to have on board dogs from programs which are accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation, or Assistance Dogs International. Very very few programs are accredited by ADI, most programs have one of the two lower forms of membership.

Other programs within Australia can apply and be granted permission for their dogs to be able to access all aircraft, and this is done on an assessment of the program, their standards, testing requriements, qualifications of the trainers, etc. Four assistance dog programs and a hearing dog program have been granted rights under this, and all the guide dog programs in Australia are accredited with the International Guide Dog Federation.

Dogs from other programs and those which are owner trained can be granted permission for the individual dog to be in the cabin, but this must be done via CASA. It is not something an individual airline can do. They will lose the authority to operate in australia if they are found to be in breech of these regulations. In order for other dogs to be considered under this criteria a person must be able to provide evidence of:

Training
Customers must be able to provide details of the training completed by their assistance dog in relation to the following:
Training in a high standard of appropriate behaviour.
Training in real life situations travelling and functioning on an aircraft,bus,train and ferry.
Training not to bark.
Training to toilet on demand and only under instructions from the customer.
Training in being in confined spaces, and
Training not to react to noises, crowds or stressful environments.

In general, individuals must provide a letter and/or other appropriate certification from the professional body, association that provided the training which confirms the following:
Who provided the training in each of the above training elements.
How much training the dog has received in each of the above training elements (eg: 6 weeks or 6 months etc ).
What sort of training the dog has received in each of the above elements.
Confirmation that the dog is competent in all of the above training elements.
Who has assessed and trained the dog, and what are their qualifications, certifications, experience, etc.

Disability
CASA also requires information in relation to your disability and the nature of assistance provided by the assistance dog to yourself.
You will need to provide information from an appropriate source (eg: a treating doctor ) which addresses the following:
What is the precise nature of the disability and what are its effects?
Is the disability temporary or permanent?
What function does the assistance dog perform in relation to your disability – ie in what way does the assistance dog assist the customer in relation to the customer’s disability?
Does the customer’s disability affect the customer’s ability to fly in an aircraft?
If yes, in what way and how does the assistance dog alleviate the effect of the disability during travel on an aircraft?
Is the customer able to fly in an aircraft if the customer is not accompanied by the assistance dog?
Are there any other alternative means of alleviating the disability in relation to flying in an aircraft other than having the assistance dog in the cabin with the customer?

It is these requirments which 4paws would have been required to meet in order to have the dogs travel in the aircraft. They would have had to provide evidence of the individual training which each of the dogs had undertaken and the details of all the training sessions for each dog. This is something which any reputable program or trainer would automatically provide to their new graduates, and they would definatley have it on file. They would also have needed to provide independent evidence of their training credentials. Any training qualifications they have, courses they have attended, professional bodies they are associated with.

This is not a decision in which Qantas was legally allowed to make a decision. It is a decision which rests solely with the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority. If they are planning on placing more dogs in any countries it would be well worth any program making sure they have ADI membership and in particular that they strive for ADI accreditation as this is what many countries in the world are requiring.

And these dogs are specifically trained not to listen to a child. They cannot respond if the child pulls on the tether, if the child wants to cross the road, etc. If the child asks it to sit it is supposed to ignore the child and wait for what the parent wants. Yet, at the same time you are trying to convince the dog that the child is important and all good things in live come from the child. As I said previously dogs are not VCR’s you cannot program them to do one thing and not make mistakes, and they do not have the intelligence to know that if they make a mistake a child could be seriously injured or even killed.

Guide dogs do not make any life and death decisions. The blind person through intensive orientation and mobility training has been trained to use their hearing and any residual sight to judge the flow of traffic. The blind person decides when to cross the road and not the dog. You cannot teach a dog to look both ways and decide when it is safe to cross a road. They are dogs and despite our best hopes and dreams for mans best friend they are not and never will be perfect. The idea of all dogs for adults with disabilities is to alert them to things that requrie their attention. Guide dogs stop at roads, or the peron, knowing where the road is by the feel of the ground would automatically stop and the guide dog basically says what would you like to do now. Hearing dogs alert to sounds and say what would you like to do. Physical assistance dogs say I think you won’t be able to reach that would you like assistance. None of these dogs are putting a persons safety at risk if they make a mistake. A blind person may walk into a treee, but not the road as they know where the road is and as adults they can know the dangers caused by such things. Hearing dogs may not alert to sounds but the person will not be any worse off if they don’t, and physically disabled people may not be able to get something they want or may drop something and not be able to pick it up.

These things are very very different to dogs that are tethered to children. And to assume that a parent will always be there is crazy. In no pictures or video’s I have seen are these dogs connected to leads held by an adult. And to assume that a dog can be allowed in school without a parent to handle the dog is also saying that you expect the dog to know what to do, or the child to control the dog. Teachers even if taught basic commands for the dog, which cannot be demanded of them, cannot be there at all times to know what is going on. What happens in the playground at lunchtime, in specialist classes or when the teacher is sick. Even if the teacher is present if another child is being assisted the teacher cannot be watching the dog. Dogs do break training all the time, even guide and other assistance dogs. To assume that a dog tied to a child will not do so is niave. And if these dogs do break training then what happens to the child. Teachers do not become teachers on the basis of them being required to control a dog, and teacher aids are also not there is control a dog. At an absolute minimum you would need to change the job description of teachers and teacher aids and pay them much more for the requirments of not just knowing about children and how to teach them, but to also know how to control dogs and dog behaivour, training, psychology, etc.

The positive information about these dogs is simply because you do not want to know of anything else. There are plenty of places and respectable ones raising huge concerns about these dogs. I have personally spoken to numerous Veterniary Behaviourists and all have expressed their deep concerns about such dogs and the distorted thinking of the programs who place these dogs. Even if a parent was always holding the lead, people who have witnessed such things in action say that it is incredilby inhumane to the dogs, and the dogs looked really really dejceted and are being yanked in evey direction by both a tether and a parent holding the lead. Is this fair on the dogs. Is it fair to create a situation of blantant animal cruelty to satisfy the needs of parents.

I am constantly told that parents do not expect teachers or teacher aids to control dogs and yet at the same time parents talk to education departments, schools, ministers of education, etc. Why do all these things if you have no need for the dog to attend school, and/or you will not be there to control the dog and you claim that you are the authroised handlers of the dog.

I am well aware of the selection processes of these programs and the training the dogs receive. I am also aware of the accreditation system currently being introduced by Assistance Dogs International. While I do feel that this is a step in the right direction most of these programs, and certainly the one in which this discussion was prompted are not members of such programs. Furthermore the standards of ADI are very very limited, and the Public Access Test is an absolute joke. It does not in any way test the temperament of the dog and this is really the most important thing. Yes, ADI says that all programs should temperament test dogs, but without setting a minimum standard for such a test and asking programs to do so voluntarily is not approprite. Further they allow dogs to sit tests with head collars or other equipment. No dog is going to pull with a head collar on. I do not care if people use head collars to train the dog or in daily life, but no dog should be tested with one on. They give a really false reading of the dogs ability, and in no way assess what might happen if the lead is really dropped and/or the person becomes incpacitated. Therapy Dog organisations of all types will not allow dogs to be tested in anything but a flat buckle collar and they also have rigorous temperament tests. The reality is that basically any dog could pass the current ADI public access test and yet most dogs could not pass therapy dog tests. Further more I do not know of a therapy dog who could not easily pass the ADI public access test, and yet I know very few assistance dogs, even those from well respected programs who could pass the therapy dog tests. Who should have higher standards, pets visiting hospitals with fully functioning adults in charge or those dogs who are given rights to accompany a disabeld person anywhere. Further if dogs for children with autism and are handled by the certifed parents should the dog ever be allowed anywhere without that parent present until that person has also become a certified handler.

Julie if you can enlighten people on how these dogs are so perfect that no child could ever be put in danger, I would love to know. Can you explain how there will never be a situation when a dog may rip a lead out of the parents hand for something more interesting. How can it be that parents will always be there holding a lead. How can parent go to the toilet with a dog and child? Further can you explain why it is expected that these dogs attend school, without anyone there to handle the dogs. How is it that all these programs have pictures all over them of kids tethered to dogs in public places and no adult holding another lead. Do you honestly belive that teachers have a responsibily to control dogs in school. Do you believe that dogs can be trained to such a level that they will never make mistakes. Above all else is it fair to place dogs in the middle of a tug of war between parent and child, when the child pulls to go one way and the parent pulls the other. Is it fair to create what has been described by some as cases of blantant animal cruelty just so parents can be helped.

If I am needing to be enlightened then please help me to do so. I am posting this to raise the concerns that and many other people I know have. I have attempted to contact known program in the world who trains dogs for such things, and none of them will respond to my questions. I just want someone in the world of tethering and of assistance dogs for young children or adults who cannot control dogs for themselves to help me to see why I see these things as issues and you don’t. These are very real issues and concerns and to tell people to just be open is not appropriate. Guide dogs were never just given public access rights. Governmets in all countries went through huge processes to ensure that such dogs would be safe for both the people concerned and the public as a whole. While hearing and service dogs are an extension of those laws, people are no longer willing to be under such scruitiany. They expect rights without providing any evidence. Without any independent evaluation and without any answers to the concerns raised by others. Guide dog programs have always answered all questions and explained in great detail why the concerns of some are not warranted. If these same concerns are not warranted in this case then please explain to me and/or find someone who can as to why my concerns and those of others are baseless.

However my research has led me to believe that the benefits for having dogs in these roles is also supported, advocated for and sought after and that there are proffessionals with expertise in dog behaviour and disability alike working with the best intentions to achieve good practice and great outcomes.

It is my understanding that currently Assistance Dogs International is overviewing training, practises and methods so that ‘accreditation’ of schools can take place in the same way that occurs for Guide Dog Schools accredited by the International Guide Dog Federation. I believe that this is a good move and will go a long way towards seeing the best schools and their applicants thrive. I envisage that the criteria that is put in place and required to maintain accreditation of each school will eliminate many of the concerns that have been mentioned here – both in regards to certification, to standards of training and follow up and to safe practice for dog, child and family alike.

I fully support the families that struggle for understanding, and I fully support the community that is challenged with trying to make sense of what they hear and see. Finally I appreciate man’s best friend in striving to meet our growing expectations about what that role entails both within the disability sector and within the general population of our increasingly disfunctional society.
I do question some of the statements that have been made without knowing the source of expertise on which these judgements have been based.

In days gone by there were many that doubted the ethics and/or abilities of dogs that assisted the blind…for a journey to reach its destination there must first be a beginning!

The child cannot control the dog and therefore the dog is a danger to the child. There have been reports of autism service dogs dragging children or otherwise hurting them.

The purpose of a service dog is to give a child greater independence. Do you want your young child to be independent of you? I thought that people were supposed to start striving for independence in their teens, and not be fully independent until later. Your situation is set up to give you independence, not the person with the disability. This is wrong and in the US, it may possibly be unlawful (not sure about NZ) though I have not read of any official rulings.

Dogs need constant training and leadership. In many ways a dog is like a 3 year old child just learning about the world. Would you trust a 3 year old with your child’s safety?

What about the cost? Most service dogs cost 5,000 dollars or less. 4paws dogs and those of other autism assistance dog groups cost considerably more for a dog that is trained in less. I think that it is one big scam. That money could be spent on services and caretakers to further aid the child in becoming more independent.

And an organization specific list:

Karen Shirk attacks autistic adults and teens on the internet while refusing to listen to them, often driving up their anxiety. I have written records of this. I have been her victim as have some of my friends.

Dogs from 4paws are trained as tether dogs mainly. And from what I have heard, the training is not as solid as it should be.

Again, 4paws failed follow the law. It is more important to do things right and maintain an image that will help fellow people with disabilities and their canine partners that to speed ahead. I know this.

Thanks for reading my list. I think that service dogs for children that cannot handle dogs are a bad idea. The handler must be mature and ready to take on responsibility. The handler should also have some degree of independence (not full though, because then they may not be considered ‘disabled’ and that is an entirely different issue) in order to take proper care of the dog. I don’t care if you take care of the dog. It will not help your child in the long run. Services will help, and when your child is ready for the responsibility, a service dog may be considered.

I do support, however skilled companion dogs for autistic children. These dogs have obedience down but are not task trained, or if they are, they do not go out in public. These dogs are more accepting of behaviors that would scare most dogs and very loving. These dogs do not go in public and instead work out of the home. Many programs offer skilled companion dogs that are perfectly good dogs that just have a minor physical problem or fear that may impair their ability to work in public.

I beg of you, please consider all of your options first. What you do has an impact on the greater disability community, not just your family. And it certainly has a large impact on the future of your child. Remember; think, research, and ask everyone. By ask everyone, I mean talk to people with different views than you. They may have a good point or two to make.