Walther Sandra, Yamamoto Mariko, Thigpen Abigail P, Willits Neil H, Hart Lynette A
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.
Teikyo University of Science, Uenohara, Japan.
Front Vet Sci. 2019 Oct 9;6:349. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2019.00349. eCollection 2019.
Assistance dogs' roles have diversified to support people with various disabilities, especially in the U.S. Data presented here are from the U.S. and Canada non-profit facilities (including both accredited and candidate members that fulfilled partial requirements: all here termed "accredited") of Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and the International Guide Dog Federation (IGDF), and from non-accredited U.S. assistance dog training facilities, on the numbers and types of dogs they placed in 2013 and 2014 with persons who have disabilities. ADI categories of assistance dogs are for guide, hearing, and service (including for assistance with mobility, autism, psychiatric, diabetes, seizure disabilities). Accredited facilities in 28 states and 3 provinces responded; accredited non-responding facilities were in 22 states and 1 province (some in states/provinces with responding accredited facilities). Non-accredited facilities in 16 states responded. U.S./Canada responding accredited facilities (55 of 96: 57%) placed 2,374 dogs; non-accredited U.S. facilities (22 of 133: 16.5%) placed 797 dogs. Accredited facilities placed similar numbers of dogs for guiding ( = 918) or mobility ( = 943), but many more facilities placed mobility service dogs than guide dogs. Autism service dogs were third most for accredited ( = 205 placements) and U.S. non-accredited ( = 72) facilities. Psychiatric service dogs were fourth most common in accredited placements ( = 119) and accounted for most placements ( = 526) in non-accredited facilities. Other accredited placements were for: hearing ( = 109); diabetic alert ( = 69), and seizure response ( = 11). Responding non-accredited facilities placed 17 hearing dogs, 30 diabetic alert dogs, and 18 seizure response dogs. Non-accredited facilities placed many dogs for psychiatric assistance, often for veterans, but ADI accreditation is required for veterans to have financial reimbursement. Twenty states and several provinces had no responding facilities; 17 of these states had no accredited facilities. In regions lacking facilities, some people with disabilities may find it inconvenient living far from any supportive facility, even if travel costs are provided. Despite accelerated U.S./Canada placements, access to well-trained assistance dogs continues to be limited and inconvenient for many people with disabilities, and the numerous sources of expensive, poorly trained dogs add confusion for potential handlers.
辅助犬的作用已经多样化，以支持各类残疾人，尤其是在美国。此处呈现的数据来自美国和加拿大的非营利性机构（包括符合部分要求的认证成员和候选成员：此处统称为“认证机构”），这些机构分别属于国际辅助犬协会（ADI）和国际导盲犬联合会（IGDF），另外还包括美国未获认证的辅助犬训练机构，涉及2013年和2014年它们为残疾人安置的犬只数量及类型。ADI的辅助犬类别包括导盲犬、助听犬和服务犬（包括协助行动、自闭症、精神疾病、糖尿病、癫痫等残疾类型的服务犬）。28个州和3个省的认证机构进行了回应；未回应的认证机构分布在22个州和1个省（部分位于有回应认证机构的州/省）。16个州的未获认证机构进行了回应。美国/加拿大有回应的认证机构（96个中的55个，占57%）安置了2374只犬；美国未获认证机构（133个中的22个，占16.5%）安置了79只犬。认证机构安置的导盲犬（918只）和协助行动犬（943只）数量相近，但安置协助行动服务犬的机构比导盲犬机构多得多。自闭症服务犬在认证机构（205次安置）和美国未获认证机构（72次安置）中位列第三。精神疾病服务犬在认证机构安置中位列第四（119次），在未获认证机构安置中占比最多（526次）。认证机构的其他安置类型包括：助听犬（109只）、糖尿病警报犬（69只）和癫痫反应犬（11只）。有回应的未获认证机构安置了17只助听犬、30只糖尿病警报犬和18只癫痫反应犬。未获认证机构安置了许多用于精神疾病辅助的犬只，大多是为退伍军人，但退伍军人要获得经济补偿需要ADI认证。20个州和几个省没有回应机构；其中17个州没有认证机构。在缺乏机构的地区，一些残疾人可能会觉得住在离任何支持机构都很远的地方很不方便，即使有差旅费补贴。尽管美国/加拿大的安置数量有所增加，但对于许多残疾人来说，获得训练有素的辅助犬仍然有限且不便，众多昂贵且训练不佳的犬只来源也给潜在使用者带来了困扰。
