Lest We Forget
ANZAC DAY REMEMBERED
Acharity that trains assistance dogs is calling for veterans to apply for a dog. The Kotuku Foundation, which places dogs with people with impairments, will receive two donated borzoi puppies out of a breeder’s next litter, and is looking for veterans who would benefit from them.
Merenia Donne started the charity in memory of her dog Nikki, who saved her life years ago by pulling her out of a car wreck.
Donne has lived with a head injury and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD or PTSI) since then, and wants to support others with impairments that cannot easily be seen.
“I took me seven years before I would even get in another car, that’s how PTSD gets you,” she said.
People still didn’t understand how such unseen impairments affected a person, and there was still “a real stigma”, she said.
“There is always the unseen or unspoken thought in people’s minds that ‘ oh but they look all right’.”
This knowledge is partly behind Donne’s desire to train dogs to help veterans, whether they served in World War II, Vietnam, or more recently domestically or internationally. She said applications were open to veterans diagnosed with a condition because of their service.
It fits with the RSA’s theme for this year’s poppy appeal — not all wounds bleed — which is aimed at highlighting the mental health injuries suffered by servicemen and women.
Defence Force medical director Dr Paul Nealis said stress injuries occur along a spectrum, ending with the most severe, PTSI. “Symptoms ... include reliving the event, including nightmares, flashbacks, or intrusive thoughts. In addition, sufferers can experience avoiding thoughts, feelings, or situations that serve as reminders of the event, feeling numb or cut off from others, being easily startled and being vigilant for signs of danger,” Nealis said.
One veteran in New Zealand has received a trained assistance dog from the Kotuku Foundation so far, but Donne said they hoped to grow that number.
The borzoi puppies — worth $3000 each — were an “underthe-radar breed”.
Donne said they were “incredibly sensitive” so would be well in tune with a person who was feeling depressed or panicky. They are also “very strong” and particularly social, as well as a bit stubborn.
“You have to engage with them. That’s really good for the veterans.”
HGo to nzherald.co.nz for coverage of the dawn services marking Anzac Day today
The assistance dogs can be trained to do things such as alert their owner if someone is approaching, or to check a dark house for their owner when coming home.
“It’s getting the veteran out and about and back into society.”
It takes about $50,000 to provide an assistance dog, and Donne estimates they’ve placed about $658,000 worth of dogs around the country.
“We’ve done it on a wing and a prayer and the smell of an oily rag,” she said.
Donne said people suffering from PTSD from their work in the Christchurch earthquake were an example of others who should apply for a dog, even if they didn’t fit the “veteran” criteria.
To donate or to apply for a dog, email kotuku_foundation_ aaa@hotmail.com or phone 021 2984741. To buy a virtual poppy for $3, or learn of other ways to help the RSA, visit pinapoppy.co.nz To find out what is happening at your local RSA, visit rsa.org. nz/find-an-rsa