As the United Nations marks World Cities Day, two assistance dog teams reflect on their experiences in two very different cities on opposite sides of the globe.
It’s a long way from the gleaming skyscrapers of Tokyo to the high-rises of Manchester, one of the UK’s biggest urban centers. At first glance the two cities have little in common, but as assistance dog teams the world over will testify, daily life in any busy city center can be challenging.
“One of the biggest issues in cities is dealing with steps and uneven surfaces,” explains 55-year-old wheelchair user Sachie, who relies on her nine-year-old mobility dog Kevin to help her navigate the Japanese capital. “Many buildings and facilities have high steps which make it difficult to get in with a wheelchair. Many places still don’t have elevators or accessible restrooms. Streets are often sloped for drainage, which can make maneuvering the wheelchair more difficult.”
Sachie and Amanda have never met, but they have a lot in common. 56-year-old Amanda, a wheelchair user partnered with disability assistance dog Chris, commutes to her work in Manchester using public transport. The journey - which includes changing trains at a busy city interchange in Sheffield, itself a large city - is a major challenge even for determined mum-of-two Amanda.
“It’s the ramp,” says 56-year-old Amanda, a highly decorated former police officer and serious incident investigator who now works as a senior civil servant. “There are no lifts - instead the station has two massive ramps and no staff on the side where car parking is. If the weather’s bad, if it’s snowing or has been raining, you can’t get a grip on your wheels, so you can’t get up the ramp.”
Sachie and Amanda are just two of thousands of wheelchair users to benefit from a disability assistance dog trained by organizations accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI).
“We’re trying to teach Chris to just pull slightly on the lead so that he gives me that extra little bit of traction,” explains Amanda, a wheelchair archery champion who has also successfully tackled the UK’s second highest mountain. “He provides a little bit of tension on the lead so I can push forward with one hand. By the end of the first year, I will have ridiculous-sized shoulders for a woman in her mid-50s!”
Disability dog Chris - Amanda’s second dog provided by ADI member Support Dogs UK - also makes Amanda more visible. “I’m managing so far – everyone I’ve found has been quite helpful. I think it helps, having a dog.”
In Tokyo, however, Sachie reports that having an assistance dog - even one trained by the ADI accredited Japan Service Dogs Association - doesn’t always make life in the city any easier. Japan’s Act on Assistance Dogs for Persons with Physical Disabilities, passed in 2022, is supposed to ensure access rights for people with guide dogs, hearing dogs and mobility service dogs which have been trained by officially recognized organizations, including members of ADI.
However, that doesn’t reflect the reality for Sachie and Kevin as they deal with the complexities of life in a mega-city. “Awareness of the Assistance Dogs Act is still quite low,” she explains. “I sometimes face rejection when trying to enter restaurants, hotels, or even hospitals with my assistance dog. In some areas and on old roads, there are often no sidewalks at all, which can be quite dangerous for both of us.”
The UN reports that more than half the global population now live in towns and cities, and that’s projected to reach almost 70 per cent by 2050 - with most of the growth in Asia and Africa, where awareness and tolerance of assistance dog teams remains relatively low. Even though the UN promotes urbanization as providing “the potential for new forms of social inclusion, including greater equality, access to services and new opportunities,” the daily reality for many wheelchair and assistance dog teams remains very different.
“Hotels with carpets, temples, shrines with gravel or stone paths, and beaches can all be problematic for wheelchair access and for dogs,” adds Sachie. “Another problem is the braille blocks for visually impaired pedestrians - they are helpful for some, but for wheelchair users, they make the surface bumpy and harder to navigate.”
“I think my idea of ‘accessible’ and that of the railway network are very different,” reflects Amanda. “If I need someone to come to my help when I’m stuck three quarters of the way up a ramp, that’s not accessible to all!”
ADI accredited member organizations around the world work tirelessly to support assistance dogs’ teams to feel confident and safe on our urban streets and sidewalks. From guide dogs making cities more accessible for people with a visual impairment, to hearing dogs helping their partners navigate our increasingly loud and confusing urban environment; from autism dogs creating a safe space to mobility dogs navigating potholes and cracked sidewalks, ADI certified dogs make city life - if not exactly easy - then a lot less stressful.