A blind disability campaigner was berated by a woman at the pub who told him using a guide dog is ‘cruel.
Dr Amit Patel says there is a growing trend of people who use service animals getting flack from people who compare it to slavery.
He says like most guide dogs, his pet labrador and best friend Kika would make it very clear if she didn’t want to work.
Amit was catching up with pal Jonathan Attenborough over a few beers at around 1am on Sunday when the woman launched her rant.
Just a few hours earlier, he was presenting at the Animal Star Awards, where he gave a speech about blind people being told off in public for using their dogs.
He told Metro.co.uk: ‘Honestly I’ve had my dog for nearly four years now, it’s something I would never have thought would happen.
‘This was very much in my face, I could feel the spit on my face, that’s how close she was.’
He says she was waiting to get served at the bar of the Portsmouth Marriott Hotel when she commented on how ‘wonderful’ his and Jonathan’s dogs were.
But then suddenly, the self-proclaimed animal rights activist compared the use of service animals to the same cock-fighting and told him to ‘burn in hell’.
Amit said: ‘I will try and explain but the situation yesterday, early Sunday morning, there was no way I was going to reason with her.
‘She put it in the same category as people who have dogs for fighting’.
He and fellow disability campaigner Jonathan held onto their dog’s leashes tightly in case the woman, who ‘just kept going’, tried to do anything.
He added: ‘She had a go at us for our dogs lying on the floor of the bar and saying how cruel it is, saying “when was the last time they ran free?”‘
Amit said he had taken Kika for a run around the beach in Portsmouth that morning and that she is always moving as he travels the country for work.
The father-of-two added: ‘They’re with us all the time, they’re not left at home – they’re outside, they get exercise.
Amit says he asked the woman, who was with a small group of friends, if she wanted to hear their side of the story but she walked away.
He added: ‘If you’ve got an opinion and you want to air it, air it, but you’ve got to listen to the response.’
In November animal welfare campaigner Wendy Turner-Webster told Good Morning Britain she believes using guide dogs is ‘unethical’ as they cannot consent.
Amit said: ‘Believe me when I say, if our service animals didn’t want to work they wouldn’t.
‘It’s going to walk you into lampposts, it’s going to walk across the toad where you don’t want to be.’
He praised Kika as being ‘absolutely fantastic’ by taking away the pressures of his disability and helping him have a normal life.
Amit added ‘Walking around with a white cane – by the time I get to where I need to be, I’m physically and mentally exhausted.
‘I haven’t bumped into a lamppost since I’ve had Kika.’
He says the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association has a rigorous process to match guide dogs with their owners based on both of their needs and abilities.
The inclusion consultant from Greenwhich, south east London, says five-year-old Kika ‘thrives’ on travelling and meeting lots of people, and of course other dogs.
He added: ‘If you don’t really go out, a guide dog isn’t really for you.’
Far from just considering his own needs, Amit says he thinks about his beloved pet ‘all the time’.
He added: ‘I would change my plans to get to work if there was a train strike because I know replacement buses would freak her out.’
Sometimes they will avoid certain stations at rush hour if Amit thinks his dog will be overwhelmed by the number of people.
Far from being just a means to an end, he says Kika is a fully fledged member of a loving family.
He added: ‘She’s also my best friend, she’s with me throughout the day, I trust her 100 per cent, she trusts me 100 per cent, that’s the only way it will ever work, the bond is amazing.’
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