Bo! Shev!

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Please click to enlarge the photo

I felt so fortunate to be able to see this van waiting at a red light in Jerusalem.

And as luck would have it, the next day an article about the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind appeared in the Jerusalem Post and I learned more.
The dedicated folks at the IGDC breed the dogs. They raise the puppies--Labradors, golden retrievers, or half-Lab, half-golden mixes--for the first eight weeks.
Then the pups are placed in foster homes for a year of socialization.
For example, some 25 students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev are enthusiastic foster care givers.
The dogs then return to the Center for training.

It is funded by donations; government ministries pay only 10%.
Of the estimated 23,000 blind people in Israel only a relatively few will receive a free guide dog from the Center. The dogs understand Hebrew commands.
If a blind person goes abroad to get a guide dog, he must be proficient in English because his own training is in English and that is the only language the dogs know.

This photo is from the Israel Guide Dog Center's sweet blog, http://www.mitzvahdog.blogspot.com/.

It really is a mitzvah to enrich the lives of blind people with such canine companions!

For more information, the website of the IGDC is here.
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P.S. To see a jackal with a pretty face please see my mid-week post.
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Other animals from other bloggers will be appearing at the weekend Camera-Critters meme.