Cork hotel back charity walk on International Assistance Dog Day

STAFF of the Rochestown Park Hotel are planning a 40km charity walk to mark International Assistance Dog Day on August 6..

To celebrate the role that Irish assistance dogs play in helping children with autism, a team from the hotel will be starting at the Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland (AADI) training facility in Little Island, and will head to the recreational park in Ballincollig.

The route goes through the city centre, and the return journey will take the same path.

For some time, members of the management and staff of the Rochestown Park Hotel, have supported AADI in raising awareness about the work of the charity.

The organisations joined forces in July 2022, with the aim of launching a hospitality sector pilot awareness-raising campaign. Several of the hotel’s employees have since taken up voluntary roles in aiding the charity.

Some of these positions include puppy fosterers, temporary boarders, drivers, and charity ambassadors.

“This collaborative approach has resulted in a greater level of understanding of how hospitality and retail professionals more broadly, together with the general public, can make an experience for a family with an assistance dog, more comfortable and inclusive,” said Colm Bolger, Operations Manager of the Rochestown Park Hotel.

It costs €25,000 and takes a lengthy two years to train each dog, though the walk is not exclusively being organised to raise funds.

Many families have experienced situations where employees or customers of retail outlets and indeed the general public, in recreational and leisure settings, have petted their autism assistance dog.

While no doubt well intended, many people do not realise that “service dogs” should not be petted while wearing their puppy training or working jacket.

Petting a service dog can be distracting and can cause upset to the child they are attached to. In circumstances where the dog is not attached to a child, the dog should only be petted with the permission of its handler.

The secondary reason behind the charity walk is to raise awareness of how the public can adapt or modify their behaviour when they encounter families accompanied by an autism assistance dog.

If you would like to support the charity walk or learn more about the work of AADI, visit www.aadi.ie.