A VISUALLY impaired woman has claimed her guide dog was “illegally and forcefully” taken away from her without explanation.

Danuta Rychert had an ownership agreement with the Seeing Dogs Alliance for her dog, Obi, until earlier this week when the charity “assumed control, without following the contract conditions.”

She said: “This is abusive and unacceptable behaviour and not something that should be hidden away and never spoken about.

“The abuse of disabled people is a hidden crime we must face up to. And we must do it now.

“As my skin crawls and my heart bleeds, we must look at the reality – we must confront not only the scale of abused, disabled victims but also charity organisations such as the Seeing Dogs Alliance and their acts of abuse.”

Ms Rychert has launched an ongoing online petition calling on people to help reunite her with Obi, but later said she no longer “wished to proceed with this fight.”

She added: “I am mentally and physically exhausted by the way I was treated.”

The charity has disputed Ms Rychert's claims and a Seeing Dogs Alliance spokesman told the Star the dog was voluntarily handed over by Ms Rychert with witnesses present, and not forcefully removed.

He said Ms Rychert was trained and signed an agreement to protect herself, the dog, the charity and the general public but the charity feels that the agreement was breached.

“She has been kept informed of the situation and is welcome to appeal the decision,” he added.