Assistance dogs and their partners all over the world are set to benefit from an exciting
new collaboration announced today between the two leading organizations for setting standards and
accrediting assistance and guide dog training programs.

Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF) have signed a
Memorandum of Cooperation which will see them collaborate to improve the lives of people with
disabilities including visual impairment. Between them, IGDF and ADI represent more than 250 assistance
and guide dog programs with more than 36,000 active teams in more than 40 countries.

“Together, ADI and IGDF are committed to setting the highest possible standards and providing the best
possible experience for both the dogs and their partners,” said Chris Diefenthaler, Executive Director of
ADI. “By entering into a formal cooperative alliance with IGDF, we will ensure that the accreditation and
standards of both organizations provide high-quality certified assistance dogs.”

The Memorandum recognizes that IGDF is the expert in the field of guide dogs, while ADI is the expert in
the field of all other types of assistance dogs. Both organizations will work together on areas including
sharing data; access, advocacy and public policy; events and conferences; working groups; and
communications. They will also work to make their accreditation processes as similar as possible to help
those training programs that are members of both ADI and IGDF.

“This formal collaboration marks a major step forward in our relationship which will hugely benefit our
member programs and guide dog users,” said Bill Thornton, Chair of the IGDF Board of Directors. “I’m
excited that both organizations will be working even more closely together to benefit tens of thousands of
guide dog and assistance dog users all over the world.”

In an example of closer cooperation, ADI and IGDF will pool data from their annual census of programs to
create a joint report on the number and type of assistance and guide dogs and their users in any given year.
This data will then be used to raise awareness among international organizations, government agencies and
the private sector of the need for better understanding of the assistance dog industry and the needs of
assistance and guide dog users.

“Both ADI and IDGF share the same ultimate goal - to improve the lives of those people with disabilities by
providing them with highly-trained assistance dogs,” said Diefenthaler. “Closer cooperation ensures we
will work together to pursue access, advocacy, and public policy in the best interests of our collective
clients.”

“Guide and assistance dogs improve the lives of countless thousands of people around the world by helping
with practical tasks, enhancing independence, and boosting wellbeing, dignity and confidence,” added
Thornton. “This new spirit of cooperation will ensure we can enhance this vital work knowing both
organizations have the best possible accreditation and standards.”

For further information please contact:
Martin Atkin, Communications Consultant, ADI [email protected]
David Maynard, Company Secretary, IGDF e [email protected]