Masterton woman Val Ball has been awarded the highest honour given by the Companion Animal Council of New Zealand.
Mrs Ball is president of the Wairarapa branch of the Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
She is one of three recipients named at the 19th Companion Animal Conference held in Masterton this week, the others being Auckland cat carer Julie Thompson and a posthumous award to Betty Rowe for her work in preserving the Arapawa Island goats, a flock established by Captain Cook.
Mrs Ball's award recognises a lifetime of community service, which includes 35 years as a LifeLine counsellor and 16 years as SPCA president.
She has worked as a volunteer with Women's Refuge, worked on the development of Victim Support, is a senior shorthair cat judge with the New Zealand Cat Fancy and a long-time CYF caregiver.
In her work at the SPCA she was a trailblazer for First Strike, which allows animal and child welfare workers to alert each other to concerns they note in their work. First Strike, which began in Wairarapa some years ago, was formalised nationally at a signing in Wellington this week.
Mrs Ball was a speaker at the conference, sharing her vision of the SPCA as part of the social welfare and therapeutic services in the community.
The CAC conference attracted 80 attendees from New Zealand and the Pacific. Speakers also came from the United States and Australia, dealing with such diverse subjects as the human/animal bond and How to make Friends with Fish. One keynote speaker posed the question "Do animals really like us?"
Mike Kawana, of Masterton, gave a Maori perspective.
The function was held at Solway Copthorne, with a gala dinner at Lansdowne House on Monday night.
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