. . . . it’s rare to see four-legged animals in a Lodge room; (look carefully in the background here at Tewkesbury).
But at the summer meeting of Gloucestershire Installed Masters’ Lodge, these two dogs seemed quite relaxed about the occasion. ‘Bruce’ (5 years) and trainee ‘Nutmeg’ (5 months) were from the local branch of Guide Dogs and invited by the WM, Dick Smith.
‘Bruce’ brought Reg White (centre), who lives in Gloucester. Reg lost his sight 25 years ago and spoke eloquently of his reliance on ‘Bruce’, his third guide-dog. “He allows me to leave my front door and gives me some independence,” said Reg.
Richard Lee from Tewkesbury is a volunteer ‘Puppy Walker’ and over the years has succeeded in ‘raising’ 15 of his 18 puppies to become fully-trained guide-dogs. His talent is getting the dogs acquainted with the everyday things which most of us take for granted, such as street-life, trains and buses.
Emily Williams is the local Fund Raiser and brought ‘Numeg’; ¾ Labrador and ¼ Retriever. Emily explained how the life-time cost of a dog can reach £50,000 . . . . and there are almost 5000 working dogs in the UK. Dick presented her with a cheque for £500; a donation to Guide Dogs from the Lodge.