The state should be responsible for the free of charge provision of guide dogs for visually impaired people, Eyes on Four Paws foundation said.

Eyes on Four Paws is the organisation that set up the only school for guide dogs on the Balkans, Novinar newspaper reported.

Nearly 200 people needed the help of guide dogs, the organisation said. Only three or four such dogs undergo training each year.

The foundation suggested state funding for the training of guide dogs, so that blind people could be granted the aid of a guide dog free of charge.

Labour and Social Policy Ministry officials said that such suggestion needed to be tabled and voted upon. Once the process was over, the Cabinet had to decide what amount of funds to allocate to the initiative.

Novinar reported that in Germany the guide dog was considered aid for disabled people and all expenses related to the training of such dogs were covered by the national health fund.