Dog's heroics are finally recognised

Merenia Donne with Ricca and portrait of late, loved award recipient Nikki. Photo/Stuart Munro

A dog that pulled its Wanganui owner out of a car wreck has posthumously been granted hero status - 17 years later.

Merenia Donne's late German shepherd Nikki has received the Eukanuba Canine Hero Award for her actions.

Ms Donne said it was gratifying and emotional to receive the award.

Nikki's heroic action probably saved her owner's life in 1997 when the car they were travelling in went off the road at Te Roti when she was travelling to Eltham.

"My memories of the accident are a bit unclear because I sustained a head injury that left me with frontal lobe damage," said Ms Donne.

"It is a dangerous stretch of road, and I went over a steep bank when I lost control of the car due to mechanical failure.

"The car was upside down and I had lost consciousness - Nikki jumped out of the back and round to the driver's window and dragged me out of the car and up the bank.

"The guy who salvaged what was left of the car said he was amazed that anyone survived the crash.

"I really don't think I would be alive now if Nikki hadn't got me out."

Ms Donne said she was devastated when Nikki was diagnosed with an untreatable bone disease a few years later.

It led to the setting-up of the Kotuku Foundation in 2006, which helps fund medical assistance dogs.

"It broke my heart to think that she had saved my life and I couldn't save hers - I started the foundation in her memory, to foster special relationships between dogs and people."

"Nikki had not been eligible for the award in previous years because posthumous awards for dogs were unheard of," Ms Donne said.

The posthumous award of the George Cross to police dog Gage in 2010, shot during a drug raid in Christchurch, set a new precedent. Ms Donne received the award at the annual New Zealand Kennel Club Annual Dog Show at the Vodafone Events Centre in Auckland last weekend.

New Zealand Kennel Club president, Peter Dunne, said it was appropriate for Nikki's bravery to be acknowledged.

"It was right to acknowledge her in the canine hero category because it was an act of bravery which fits the criteria."

The Kotuku Foundation was formed in 2006 with the aim of ensuring that the dogs and the people they are trained to assist enjoy good lives together.

"It does change people's lives, and it potentially saves their lives," Ms Donne said.

Ms Donne now has Ricca, a young German shepherd trained to assist her if there are changes in her neurological condition and serves as a good companion too.