Hero hound Nikki posthumously honoured, still changing lives

Thursday, 16 October 2025

When Merenia Donne’s car plunged off a Taranaki road in 1997, her german shepherd Nikki saved her.

Twenty-eight years later, Nikki has died but is still saving people, and this week emulated her owner by getting an award from the Governor-General.

At Government House Dame Cindy Kiro awarded Nikki the first‑ever New Zealand Animal Distinguished Service Award, conferred by the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation.

It recognised her life‑saving bravery and the legacy she inspired: the Kotuku Foundation Assistance Animals Aotearoa (KFAAA), founded by Donne in her memory.

Donne, who received the MNZM from Dame Patsy Reddy, still suffers from post traumatic stress after her car landed upside down, the engine still running, her body trapped.

And the Whanganui resident still misses her heroic dog, who got out of the car to drag her to safety. She can remember it, though she wishes she couldn’t.

“What I was terrified of was that she would be traumatised and run up into the road … it was a big, busy road at the top,” Donne recalls.

“But no way, she jumped out of the window. I mean, the car was upside down and came straight to my door, grabbed hold of my coat and dragged me through the window.

“I had really started to panic, because I could feel the car pressing on me. I thought it's going to break my neck, and the engine was still going, and I thought, oh my goodness, it's going to explode, It had CNG in there.”

When Nikki was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2005, the outpouring of kindness from strangers moved Donne deeply, and led to the KFAAA.

““People from overseas sent donations — not huge amounts, but they all wanted to help. I decided then and there, whether she survived or not, I’d start a charity to help others the way I’d been helped.”

When Nikki died eight months later, Donne used the remaining $3000 from the trust account to launch the foundation, aimed at providing dogs as helpers to those with a range of impairments.

Two decades on, about 20 trained partnerships operate nationwide, each touching dozens of lives.

“It doesn’t stop with one person,” Donne says. “You’ve got the family, friends, workplaces, schools — it ripples out to maybe 10 or 20 people for every dog.”

KFAAA trains dogs to assist people with a range of impairments — mental health conditions such as PTSD and OCD, and medical conditions like diabetes.

Its diabetes‑response dogs are world‑class.

“They’re way more accurate than any technology,” Donne says. “They detect changes in blood sugar far earlier — that’s no surprise when you think a dog can smell a drop of cola in a swimming pool.”

Each alert can prevent a potentially fatal hypoglycaemic episode, saving taxpayers and the health system thousands of dollars.

“Every ambulance call out or hospitalisation costs around $6000,” Donne says. “Our dogs head it off straight away. The savings to the health system are huge - but the emotional value is even bigger.”

The foundation doesn’t run a breeding programme, preferring to match rescue dogs or individually selected animals with handlers, a move that reduces failure rates and keeps stress low for both dog and human.

Nor does it pair dogs with children who experience frequent meltdowns.

“It’s inhumane,” Donne says. “That causes too much stress to the dog. We only train for one‑to‑one partnerships where the person can independently manage the dog.”

Kiro’s address captured the emotion of the moment.

Quoting the late Jane Goodall, she said: “You cannot share your life with a dog and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities, minds and feelings.”

She praised the foundation’s work as an embodiment of the Māori proverb Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu — adorn the bird with feathers so it may soar.

“For many of us, those connections are a precious aspect of our humanity,” she said. “You can be proud that your contribution is making a real difference to people’s lives.”

Donne says the day was like a full‑circle moment.

“It’s bittersweet. I’m sad Nikki’s not here — I miss her every day — but I do believe her spirit shines on the charity. Nikki’s still helping people live.”

Nikki had “rescue” written in her DNA. She was a rescue dog, then worked in search and rescue. She came from a broken home - a husband threatened to his wife he would get rid of her if she wasn’t given away.

Donne, who already had cats, needed a dog that could live peacefully with them.

“She adored cats,” Donne laughs. “I’ve got a photo of kittens swinging off her tail while she’s eating dinner.”

Nikki turned out to be a prodigy. Trainers were astonished at her ability to follow complex tracking and distance‑control commands on first try.

“She just sat there, watched once, and did it perfectly,” Donne recalls. “The trainer said, ‘I’ve never seen a dog do that.’ She was astonishing.”

That intelligence and devotion served Donne well after the crash — and again as she rebuilt her life through KFAAA.

“I often tell people I wish I’d been knocked unconscious,” she says.

“PTSD isn’t logical. It plays out in vivid flashbacks, like a movie in front of your eyes. But Nikki was always there, keeping me safe — even when I wasn’t safe from myself.

“I’ve never got over losing her,” Donne says.

“But she mattered. Her life mattered. And because of her, so many others have a chance to live theirs.”

And she was brave. Brave dog, brave dog.