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There is an old saying: “if you<br />
want a friend in politics get a<br />
dog.” I have been somewhat<br />
luckier than that. Throughout my<br />
political life – I’ve been involved in<br />
elected office since 1970 – I’ve had<br />
not only six wonderful dogs, but<br />
also more friends than I deserve.<br />
In other words, man’s best<br />
friend has been both dog and<br />
human beings. But there are some<br />
things about a dog that you just<br />
can’t fault. They don’t argue, they<br />
don’t make judgments, they may<br />
get cheesed off with what you’re<br />
asking them to do but they don’t<br />
bear grudges or get spiteful.<br />
My dogs have all been<br />
characters. From Ruby, my first<br />
and most ‘un-guide-dog-like’ guide<br />
dog, through to my present curly<br />
coat retriever/Labrador cross<br />
Cosby.<br />
Cosby’s guiding, nature<br />
and general propensity<br />
to make people converse<br />
even if they hate my<br />
politics, is both great<br />
advantage and an ice<br />
breaker.<br />
This curly coated black<br />
giant of a dog has his<br />
own little quirks in not just<br />
mobility but independence<br />
and dignity.<br />
Sneaking upstairs and<br />
not simply sleeping on<br />
one of my step-daughter’s<br />
beds, but turning the<br />
covers down with his<br />
paws first, is one of<br />
them. Clever as he is,<br />
I’ve not yet taught him<br />
(I do from time to time<br />
get asked this), how to<br />
read the numbers on the<br />
front of buses or which<br />
train platform to go to at<br />
stations. Like all dogs, he<br />
has to know what’s expected of<br />
him and to expect that his owner<br />
knows what he’s doing. Now<br />
there’s a thought!<br />
In my experience, guide dogs<br />
are a means of giving back<br />
independence, dignity and mobility<br />
to a blind person, which I have<br />
enjoyed for almost 45 years with<br />
my four-legged guides.<br />
As Hilda Winters, an 89-year-old<br />
guide dog owner told the Guide<br />
Dogs for the Blind Association:<br />
“Having a guide dog has given<br />
me back my dignity, my reason to<br />
live. Until I had Isla I was ignored,<br />
had been attacked and was too<br />
frightened to leave the house. Now<br />
I feel like a human being again.”<br />
David Blunkett MP<br />
Member of Parliament for<br />
Sheffield Brightside and<br />
Hillsborough<br />
An MP’s Best Friends<br />
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats<br />
Church Office: 9 Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA<br />
Tel: (0114) 274 5086<br />
Page 9<br />
email: office@stchads.org<br />
website: www.stchads.org
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