A WOMAN with a guide dog was told she should be dead in a vile verbal attack at Poole bus station.

Debbie Booth, 52, from Bournemouth, was getting off a bus with her guide dog Jasper on Thursday, July 13, when an older woman stepped into her path.

“She said, ‘I feel sorry for the dogs, not for you’ and repeated it, implying we were extremely cruel to guide dogs,” Debbie said.

“I replied that she had got it terribly wrong and she needed to speak to the Guide Dogs charity and find out how loved these dogs are. I said Jasper had given me a life that I never thought I’d have.

“She said, ‘If he’s had to give you life, you should be dead’.”

Debbie, who describes herself as “very visually impaired”, has never been verbally abused for having a guide dog before, but she wants to get “this terrible stigma quashed”.

“It’s definitely a hate campaign. It was extremely difficult for me to carry on that day,” she said.

“There’s no way anything untoward happens with guide dogs – they are so loved.

“This is my first guide dog. I waited four years for him. He’s by my side all the time. The bond is amazing - it’s unconditional. We never shout at them or hit them – what people think goes on, I don’t know.”

She added: “People don’t realise the courage it takes to leave the front door. It’s terrifying to think she’s doing this to a lot of people.”

Debbie reported the incident to both the police and Guide Dogs.

A spokesperson for the charity said: “The bond between a guide dog owner and their dog is a very special one.

“The partnership cannot work unless there is mutual trust and understanding between dog and owner, and central to this is the welfare of the guide dog.

“Debbie was obviously extremely upset and shaken by the incident in Poole and we continue to support her through this difficult time.”

A Dorset Police spokesperson said an officer “spoke with the victim to offer words of reassurance”, however as she and Jasper were not injured, and no violence was mentioned or threatened, “no criminal offences were identified”.

Richard Wade, Morebus operations manager, said he was “very sorry to learn of the unacceptable treatment this lady received from another passenger whilst at Poole bus station”.

He added: “We have received a request for help to identify the perpetrator.”

Although the incident did not take place on board the bus, CCTV footage has been recalled “just in case”.