Presentation of New Zealand Animal Distinguished Service Award

E nga rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, e huihui mai nei I tenei waa, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou. Nau mai, haere mai ra ki Te Whare o te Kawana Tinara o Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

I specifically acknowledge:

• Merenia Donne,
• Mark Compain,
• Dr Vicki Erceg, and
• Professor Sir Jim Mann from Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa.

Thank you all for coming to Government House for today's presentation of the New Zealand Animal Distinguished Service Award.

I welcome this opportunity to acknowledge the role of assistance animals in our communities and the work of the Foundation.

I want to begin by sharing with you some words from the great primatologist Jane Goodall, who sadly passed away two weeks ago.

She once said: "You cannot share your life with a dog and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities, minds and feelings."

Through her many years of closely studying chimpanzee communities in Tanzania, Jane Goodall established that animals do indeed experience emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, empathy, affection, anger, jealousy and compassion.

These attributes equip animals to learn, to live as social beings with each other and with people - and of course, enable us to learn so much from them. For many of us, those connections are a precious aspect of our humanity and our sense of wellbeing.

In my case, I am lucky to have two little dogs, Pebbles and Lucy. Pebbles used to sometimes accompany my husband Richard to his medical practice in Auckland.

Richard noticed how reassuring her presence was for the patients, particularly when they were anxious or upset. No doubt many of you here today have stories to tell about how your animal companions give you moments of comfort, joy and inspiration.

The Award I will present today acknowledges one such inspirational story. It is a story of remarkable devotion from a canine companion, whose actions enabled Merenia to survive a life-threatening situation.

Shortly, we will hear from Merenia how this experience inspired her to begin her work with disability assist animals.

The Foundation she founded bears the name of our tallest bird, the kotuku. It's a name that evokes the special nature of her mission to help vulnerable people to stand tall and find their place in the world.

I appreciate that it must be a time-consuming task for the handler and trainer to find a dog with the appropriate temperament and personality, and to put in the many hours required for the dog to become an effective and reliable support for the handler.

At the same time, I imagine it is so satisfying to see how that assistance changes lives and enables people to achieve a new level of independence and confidence. This work is an expression of the whakataukī:

Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu

Adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar.

I want to thank everyone associated with the Kotuku Foundation, whether you are an expert adviser, a trainer, or involved in finding and raising an assistance animal. You can be proud that your contribution is making a real difference to people's lives.

You can also be proud that you are contributing to a normalisation of the presence of disability assist animals in our communities - in our institutions, our workplaces and on public transport.

Congratulations for what you have achieved Merenia, in bringing your vision to life. I now invite you to introduce your video and share your hopes for the future.