Hopefully the end result is good publicity for GDA and an increase in donations.

Hi everyone,

The real story of what happened on Friday at GDA with Paula Abdul
and Scott MacIntyre from American Idol fame.
Your confusion is absolutely granted….the best way I can say about
what happened is that it was a media “spin”. Over and over I had
prepped Paula to make sure that she states that the dogs that Scott will
be walking with, neither one of them will be given to him – that these
dogs will be “similar to one that he would get if he chose to come to
GDA for the 28-day training process – AFTER he goes through the whole
application process”. As you have seen, the media took a much different
spin, as did Paula in her delivery of the events of the day.
Unfortunatly, when the media and celebrity is concerned, the end result
of the article or TV spot is out of our hands, but the real end result
of how/when someone receives a guide dog still remains in our control.
I spoke with Scott in detail for a long time after the media left to
explain to him that this turned out to be a “media blitz” and that
if/when he decides to get a guide dog, we will talk again at that time.
There is no way we at GDA would EVER “surprise” someone with a guide dog
without going through the whole application process – no matter who they
are, and I’m sorry that the media and Paula presented it in a different
light. At this point, Scott’s life is very busy and full, and at this
stage in his life, his career is very important to him. Maybe down the
road a guide dog will be next to him, but I assur you all that he will
have to complete the same process as any other visually impaired person
would.

Lorri Bernson (and guide dog “Nigel”!)
Guide Dogs of America