A Kapiti Coast woman is pleading with Blind Low Vision New Zealand to return her guide dog.
Sheryl Welby had her guide dog, Roy, taken from her last month after the organisation claimed the dog had developed a skin condition as a result of its owner's own health problems. It's a claim she and her lawyer dispute.
With every sweep of the cane, Sheryl Welby navigates her way to the letterbox. It's a daily task she used to do with her guide dog, Roy.
"He loves trotting down," she says.
But Roy - a black lab who she'd had for five months - was removed by Blind Low Vision NZ four weeks ago.
"Having a guide dog is very beneficial," Welby says.
In an email, the organisation told Sheryl Roy was picking up on her increased stress levels dealing with her own health and it was recommending Roy not be returned to her.
"What concerned me about that email was the lack of a clear link between Sheryl's purported health issues and what appeared to simply be a skin condition," says lawyer Hamish Cameron.
Cameron replied to the email, asking for Roy to be returned. He sent them an assessment from Sheryl's GP of 14 years, stating she hasn't displayed features of a mental illness or anxiety disorder as well as a clinical summary from a vet stating Roy was in "perfect health" except for the skin condition.
"If he was stressed, he wouldn't be near me, he wouldn't respond to me," says Welby.
Blind Low Vision New Zealand said it was a very difficult decision to remove Roy and in some instances the initial match of a guide dog and handler do not materialise as planned.
Sheryl has had five dogs in 20 years. She says the other four were retired.
Despite Blind Low Vision NZ telling her a successful guide dog partnership wouldn't be possible, she's now on a waiting list to receive a new dog.
But she wants Roy back.
"That upsets me quite a bit actually and I would dearly love to have him back here."
So she doesn't have to rely on a cane to get around alone.
