COLUMBIA, MO. -- Karen Darling of Columbia refers to her 4-year-old service dog Flash as her “fetch and carry” guy. Flash helps Darling on days when she has a hard time bending over.
MU Vet School eye doctors gave Flash and other service dogs an eye examination as part of this year’s National Service Dog Eye Exam event.
“Obviously, if he can’t see what I am asking him to get, then we are both in trouble,” Darling said. “It’s fairly a new concept for me. I’ve had dogs all of my life and didn’t honestly know that dogs needed eye exams.”
Finding an animal eye doctor can be tough. The MU Vet School has three of only 350 board-certified veterinary ophthalmologists worldwide.
Dr. Elizabeth Giuliano is the section leader of MU’s Ophthalmology Service. Giuliano uses a $9,000 camera with a built-in flashlight and magnifying glass to examine the front and back of dog eyes on a television.
“If we detect a problem, we want to be able to catch it early,” Giuliano said. “We want to be able to intervene. We want to be able to treat so that those dogs can stay in service for as long as possible.”
MU’s Vet School is, once again, offering free service dog exams next Friday, May 28.
That’s when MU animal eye doctors plan to examine a variety of dogs that work for the military including bomb detection dogs.
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