Liu Peng (iqilu.com): Bus drivers have an obligation to ensure blind people and other disabled groups' convenience while taking buses, but at the same time, drivers also have to look after other passengers on the bus. Some passengers still have doubts about guide dogs and thus hesitate to take the bus together with these dogs. Therefore, it's understandable for public transport to refuse guide dogs in some cases.

However, it's somewhat unreasonable to reject guide dogs for public transport. Without these dogs, blind people have much more difficulty getting around. Social progress is expected to show more care to disabled people. It's a pity that guide dogs are still not commonly seen. Although China has around 17 million blind people, there are only 30 or so guide dogs working for a small fraction of this blind group. Current laws have neglected the existence and importance of these 30 or so guide dogs.

Therefore, it's urgent for legal regulations to be worked out that define guide dogs' right to take public transport on the condition of full qualification and certificates.

Dong Ping (ynet.com): With the excuse that pets are not allowed into public venues, public transport and shopping malls tend to ban guide dogs.

Many people don't like guide dogs and thus refuse them on buses and subways, and particularly taxis are always the quickest to deny them. To some extent, to say no to guide dogs is to say no to the blind people. Public transport is supposed to help disabled people with their traveling, but to refuse guide dogs is doing the opposite.

Guide dogs are trained to help the blind people get about, which shows the care toward the blind. If society does not accept guide dogs and buses do not want to take them, why are these dogs trained up? Although we can't expect every person show tolerance and kindness to these dogs, basic knowledge about such dogs is needed.

Opponent

Chen Fang (voc.com.cn): In many cities, there are explicit regulations forbidding dogs from taking public transport. Even if there are no specific dog bans, dog owners should know that in order not to bother others, they are not supposed to bring their pets out in public.

Dog owners treat dogs as their family members, taking dogs wherever they go, while those who are afraid of dogs try to keep far away from them. Dog owners have the right to raise a dog, but at the same time, they should also know some people don't like dogs.

Now, let's talk about the possibility of guide dogs taking public transport. In most cities, public transport is already saturated, either on buses or subways. Particularly in peak hours, it's almost unimaginable fit a dog into such crowds.

People are supposed to respect each other. Those who love dogs and depend on dogs as well as those who hate dogs all have their own standards on this issue. If everyone overemphasizes his or her personal feelings and rights, turning a blind eye to others' feelings, this issue concerning guide dogs' public transport traveling will never get solved.

Email us at: zanjifang@bjreview.com

A Letter from the Reader:

The Need for Guide Dogs

I read your article on guide dogs on public transport (Issue 51, December 19, 2013) with interest for several reasons.

I work for Guide Dogs in London, and we have over 320 guide dog owners. All are legally allowed on public transport, and transport providers must ensure provision are made for guide dogs.

Access for guide dog owners to public transport can be an issue on occasion, but on the whole our guide dog owners report a positive experience. Most issues arise in restaurants here in London. Restaurant owners are not aware of their legal obligations and regularly ask guide dog owners to leave their premises. This is of course illegal, but it is a widespread problem. We find that most of these problems arise in ethnic minority communities where there is no knowledge of guide dogs, what they are and the legal obligations they have.

Our constant battle is to raise awareness of guide dogs in these communities, some of which, due to religious reasons, are very scared of dogs and see them as 'dirty.'

So in conclusion, there is no debate surrounding access to services for guide dogs. By law they are allowed access to almost anywhere. Despite this, we still face a challenge in promoting this message to a significant few.

I would be interested in following your debate further should you decide to investigate it again some other time. We estimate that there are tens of thousands of blind people in London who we as an organization are constantly trying to reach out to.

Rob Harris, Guide Dogs Engagement Manager for London