LAKE DORA, Fla. — With the sun setting Thursday on Susan Blake’s 77th day without her guide dog, Didi came home into Blake’s arms, getting a hug, kisses and, of course, a doggy treat.
“It truly is a miracle,” said Blake, who as an Episcopal priest doesn’t use such words lightly. “I’m ecstatic.”
Didi was reunited with Blake after a judge issued a preliminary order that said the dog was Blake’s property and was wrongfully taken by Southeastern Guide Dogs of Palmetto, which trained Didi. Southeastern said Blake wasn’t caring properly for Didi and that it had a contractual right to take back the dog.
“There was no need for Southeastern to do this,” Blake said Thursday as she awaited Didi’s return. “I’m so thankful to have her back.”
Southeastern, though spokeswoman Muffy Lavens, said Thursday, “We are surprised and concerned about this development, as our priority has been and remains the well-being and health of Didi. We will be evaluating our options before determining next steps.”
Blake choked on her tears recently as she remembered the March day that a Southeastern representative came to her home.
She said she wrapped her arms around Didi, a Black Labrador, kneeling on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
“I said, ‘You can’t take her. She’s all that I have,’” Blake said of the day when Southeastern “repossessed’' — the words in its contract — the dog she has had for 8 years. “Didi gave me two wet kisses” and left with the Southeastern representative.
Blake, 66, describes a chaotic, traumatic scene that unfolded in front of her Mount Dora home in early March when a Southeastern official came to check on Didi’s welfare. “I did not want to give up Didi. I was so numb, in shock, intimidated and so afraid,” she said.
Southeastern, which trained the dog, described a different scene. They say Didi was overweight, sick, behind on her vaccinations and prone to roam the neighborhood. They also say Blake freely gave up the Black Labrador, which was theirs to take back under a contract Blake signed when she got Didi.
“In situations where there are health concerns for the dog, our staff provides the graduate with specific plans and monitors the dog’s progress and health carefully,” Southeastern said in a statement emailed last month from Lavens, its media relations representative. “In rare situations where the dog’s well-being or life is in jeopardy, the organization will bring the dog back to the campus and bring the dog back into good health.”
The organization said it tried to work with Blake but in the end, Didi’s safety required her removal.
Blake, who has been blind since being born prematurely, said that is all a bunch of poop.
Although she conceded Didi had gained weight and was a bit behind in her shots, she said Southeastern never contacted her for more than a year before the March day they showed up.
After she was taken from Blake, Didi was returned to the person who raised her in Columbia County in North Florida. After the court order, the sheriff’s office took Didi, according to Marion Gwizdala of Tampa, an advocate for blind people with guide dogs who worked with Blake.
He went to Lake City and brought Didi back to Blake on Thursday for a reunion on the shore of Lake Dora.
The person who had possession of the dog in Lake City could challenge the case in court, and Southeastern has said it had a contract that allowed it to take back Didi.
Gwizdala said groups have inconsistent policies about who owns a guide dog after they are trained and connected with a person. He said Southeastern did not respect the rights of Blake, who he said clearly was her owner.
“If they had concerns about the Didi’s well-being, they could have gotten animal control involved instead of leaving her without the support she needed to be mobile,” he said.
Blake said she plans to continue to fight.
“I don’t want to see this happen to anyone ever again,” she said.
