History

In Autumn 2000, 13 organisations from 7 different European countries have met in the Netherlands. Austrian, Belgian, Dutch, English, German, Italian and Swiss organisations were represented. It appeared that there were many issues of joint concern for all the assistance dog organisations in Europe. They have many historic links and share similar approaches in their training.
A strong feeling emerged at the conference that there should be much closer European co-operation between the programmes. It was decided to meet annually and establish an international secretariat, the first step towards creating Assistance Dogs Europe (ADEu). Meetings in Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Germany, Croatia and the Netherlands followed. Statutes and standards have been written and an accreditation process has started. At the moment there are 62 Programmes listed of which 24 are Accredited Members.
Since January 2007 ADEu is a chapter of Assistance Dogs International.

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