Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Guidedog School Marks 33rd Anniversary, Supporting Independence Through 320 Guide Dogs

[Financial News] Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Guidedog School has provided 320 guide dogs free of charge to visually impaired people over the past 33 years, helping them move more freely and live independently.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance said on the 27th that it held a 33rd anniversary ceremony at its Guidedog School in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, under the theme, "Steps Taken Together, a Future to Continue." More than 130 people attended, including visually impaired partners, puppy walkers, families who adopted retired dogs, and trainers.
At the event, seven guide dogs and seven visually impaired partners marked a new beginning. Four dogs that had worked as guide dogs for seven to eight years began a second chapter of life with home-care volunteers after retirement.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's guide dog program began with the philosophy of the late Lee Kun-hee. He hoped the program would help spread a culture in which people with disabilities are naturally accepted as members of society. The Guidedog School, established in September 1993, produced its first guide dog, Bada, the following year and has continued the program for 33 years.
It takes many hands to bring a guide dog to a visually impaired partner. The process begins with puppy walking, in which puppies are socialized in ordinary homes from around two months of age for about a year. They then undergo professional training and partner education. After retirement, they spend their later years in a new home. So far, about 2,930 families have taken part in puppy walking, parent-dog care, and retired-dog care.

The guide dog program has also influenced institutions and public awareness. Social understanding has grown regarding visually impaired people traveling on public transportation and entering public places such as restaurants and hotels with guide dogs, and related systems have been steadily improved. In April last year, the scope of "justifiable reasons" for restricting guide dogs was made clearer.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance plans to continue the guide dog program not merely as a form of social contribution, but as an effort to build a society in which people with and without disabilities live together.
Lee Mun-hwa, president and CEO of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, said, "The guide dog program is an effort that changes our society in a better direction while standing alongside the lives of visually impaired people," adding, "We will continue to uphold the value of walking together."
Park Tae-jin, principal of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Guidedog School, said, "The 33-year history is a record created by the hearts of countless people," and added, "We will do our part so that guide dogs and visually impaired partners can walk together into a wider world."
[email protected] Hong Ye-ji Reporter