Presenting the results of the "Access of guide dogs to public places" study

The most problematic areas for guide dogs’ access are restaurants, supermarkets and public transport. These are the results of the study "Access of guide dogs to public places," prepared by the "mystery shopping" method by "Eyes on Four Paws" and Client X. It was conducted in four cities in the country and covers nine categories of public places.

The results show that the employees in clinics, banks, government institutions and commercial outlets are most responsive. 74% of employees are familiar with the access rights of blind people with guide dogs to public places, while 26% do not know what the rights of the blind are. This is according to the expert Elena Radulova from the company that conducted the survey. The employees most familiar turn out to be those in clinics and pharmacies,  and least - in supermarkets and restaurants, said Radulova.

Most assistance to blind people with a guide dog has been rendered in state institutions - 77%, and banks - 64%, announced Juliana Goranova, senior researcher at Client X company. In two of the cases in which citizens with dogs were not allowed in a supermarket, an employee has offered to go shopping for them and has provided their purchase at the store’s entrance, explained Goranova. She also pointed out that another problem for blind people is the too-friendly attitude of strangers towards the four-legged guides. People often start to stroke the dog or give him food, without realizing that this distracts him from his "official" duties.

You can read more on the topic in the following articles (in Bulgarian).