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The first working Guide Dog in Australia was very familiar with UWA so it is fitting that the University community will be involved in raising funds to sponsor another.

Dreena, who was brought to Perth from England in 1950 by Dr Arnold Cook, was a familiar figure on campus. Dr Cook had become blind when he was 18 with the eye condition retinitis Pigmentosa. He learned Braille then studied at UWA, where he gained a degree in Arts, majoring in Economics. He later completed a PhD at Harvard.

Almost 60 years later, UWA’s Claire Webb and her husband Mike Webb are volunteer Guide Dog puppy raisers. Frankie is now a working Guide Dog and Bill is now in formal training. Both dogs have been regular campus visitors, accompanying Claire to work in Organisational and Staff Development Services in Love House.

Claire’s mother, Suzanne Shield, took a keen interest in puppy raising and wanted to help sponsor a puppy herself, but died before her wish could come true. Suzanne left a bequest to the Guide Dog program and her family thought it would be wonderful if they could raise funds to sponsor a puppy in her memory.

With the help of Suzanne’s bequest, Claire and Mike have so far raised $28,000.

“We’re just $2,000, or one paw short, of a Guide Dog,” Staff Development Officer Claire said.

To get the ‘fourth paw’, Claire has organised an information afternoon at Love House at 12.30pm on Thursday 1 November. There will be a free lecture from Claire and a Guide Dog and mobility instructor from the Association for the Blind WA and the opportunity to meet Guide Dog puppies.

Tax-deductible donations can be made online and there will be a collection tin on the day for cash donations.

RSVP by Friday 26 October to Claire Webb

Pawnote: Claire believes Suzanne and Dr Cook may have met at the London School of Economics where both studied in the late 1940s.

Published in UWA News , 15 October 2012