History of Pilot Dogs

The foresight of three individuals - Stanley Doran, visually impaired since the seventh grade; Charles W. Medick, a Columbus auto dealer and father of a blind child; and Everett R. Steece, an Administrator with the then Services for the Blind in Ohio - laid the foundation for Pilot Dogs to be chartered as a non-profit organization in January 1950.

Their efforts were enhanced from Chicago with the interest of Bishop Bernard J. Sheil and much needed financial support from Henry Staffel, President of Perk Foods. Mr. Staffel's program for returning Vet's dog food labels met with great success and soon 850,000 returns were received for an annual income of $60,000.00 to Pilot Dogs. Prime collections were done by the American Legion Auxiliary of Illinois.

Interested people, friends of Mr. Medick, offered their services. Ten members comprised the first Board of Directors. Their "Mission": To provide the finest of guide dogs to the qualified sightless. This service would made available without charge and would include the Pilot Dog, four weeks in-residence training and roundtrip transportation.

Four people were trained with their Pilot Dogs in 1950 and from this humble beginning, the program has grown to approximately 150 every year. Over 5,000 openings in the training schedule were filled since 1950.

Since our start-up, a few Lions Clubs, mainly in the Columbus area, had donated money and time to this project of mobility. Lions Clyde R. Tipton and Dwight Swepston, members of the Tri-Village Lions Club, presented a motion at the State Convention of the Ohio Lions to adopt Pilot Dogs as a state project. This became a reality at the 41st Convention. Pilot Dogs was granted permission to be known as "Lions Pilot Dogs" by Lions International. Over 500 Clubs now support our service to the blind.

Those four people that made up our first training class were housed in the private home of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Fawcett. This was in the University area and provided an excellent neighborhood to expose animals to the high student traffic. In 1952, the Board of Directors, purchased property from the Community Center. A building was designed to provide in-residence training and a small office. The Pilot Home remains at this site, 625 West Town Street, and the building has been updated and expanded. This enables us to handle more classes but still keeps the class size small and allows us to provide more individual attention to each placement. Surrounding properties were acquired to provide a park for the trainees and their Pilot Dogs.

Dr. J. H. Knapp and the Columbus Academy of Veterinarians provided expertise for building a kennel on Stimmel Road. In May, 1963, the Treatment Center for the care and treatment of the animals was dedicated. To that facility of 46 runs, additions make it possible to now house 150 animals in training with an adjoining "puppy nursery."
This facility is one of the finest in the country. The volunteer veterinarians from the Columbus Academy, the donations of medicines from pharmaceutical firms and dog food from Kal Kan, Inc., adds to the well being of the Pilot Dog in training.