International Guide Dog Day

On International Guide Dog Day, we celebrate the impact Guide Dogs have on individuals living with low or no vision and promote the important message that Guide Dogs can go anywhere. Guide Dogs provide independence, inclusion, safety and confidence, allowing people to live the life they deserve.

When is International Guide Dog Day?

International Guide Dog Day is celebrated on the last Wednesday of April each year. Although International Guide Dog Day has only been celebrated throughout the world since 1992, Australia’s first Guide Dog Dreena accompanied Western Australian Dr Arnold Cook home from England in 1950.

With the support of Dr Cook and others, the first female Guide Dog Trainer, Betty Bridge, established the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (now Guide Dogs WA) in 1951, training and partnering Australia’s first locally trained dogs.

On International Guide Dog Day, we celebrate the dogs that change the lives of people living with low vision, disability or illness. We also celebrate the trainers and donors who make Guide Dogs available to people in need.

What is the Guide Dogs WA Street Appeal?

Each year, Guide Dogs WA highlights this special day with our volunteers taking to the streets of Perth for the annual Street Appeal.

On Wednesday 27 April 2022, Guide Dogs WA held our first ever online Giving Day in recognition of International Guide Dog Day.

Thanks to the generosity of the Western Australian community and our matching partners we raised over $520,000 to support the training of life-changing Guide and Assistance Dogs for people living with low vision, disability or illness.

An additional heartfelt thank you to our teams for getting behind our inaugural Giving Day. We couldn’t do it without the support of everyone who helped make our Giving Day a great success.

For more information about getting involved in International Guide Dog Day, please contact us on (08) 6222 4950 or email community.fundraising@guidedogswa.com.au

Please register to find out how you can support International Guide Dog Day in the future!