New campaign highlights diversity of assistance dogs and their partners.

A new campaign to raise awareness that assistance dogs come in all shapes and sizes and support a wide range of people with different disabilities has been launched in the UK.

The campaign, supported by an animation featuring assistance dogs representing the ten member programmes of Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK), aims to help members of the public to understand the difference between different types and breeds of assistance dog.

“We want to get the message across that not all assistance dogs are the same,” says Vicky Worthington, ADUK’s Development Manager. “Most people are familiar with Labrador or retriever guide dogs, but it’s important people understand that assistance dogs come in all shapes and sizes.

“Just as some disabilities are invisible, so not all assistance dogs are immediately obvious. We get thousands of emails every year from people who are confused about what an assistance dog is. We’re really trying to educate service providers and the wider the public that assistance dogs aren’t necessarily what they think they are. The message is very clear and we have made a big effort to make the videos as accessible as possible.”

“Ultimately we hope the videos will increase general awareness and improve access for people who rely on highly trained assistance dogs,” adds Vicky. “We want to close the gap between laws and policies on access rights for disabled people and what is actually happening on the ground.”

Two more animations are due out later in the year, the first aimed at helping service providers such as shops, restaurants and transport companies to understand the different types and breeds of assistance dog, and the second as part of a learning resource for schools. “It’s been a really great collaborative project,” says Vicky. “It shows the strength of our membership here in the UK, and I hope it will encourage ADI members in other parts of the world to do something similar.”

Check out the first campaign animation here and look out for more videos later in the year.