Merenia Donne receives a New Year's honour for work with assistance dogs

Founder of the Kotuku Foundation, Merenia Donne, who is to receive a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, with her dogs, Lola and Rica. PHOTO/FILE

"It's not my honour, it's the charity's."

That was the reaction of Merenia Donne, founder of the Kotuku Foundation, when she discovered she was to receive a New Year's honour.

Ms Donne will be made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to training disability assistance dogs.

Ms Donne is the founder of the Kotuku Foundation, an organisation that trains assistance dogs for people with life-threatening medical conditions, and also provides disability assistance dogs to help people with a range of challenging impairments in their daily lives.

Kotuku is a world leader in training diabetic response dogs, which can detect early signs of a diabetic incident. Kotuku is the only New Zealand charity to have gained membership of Animal Assisted Intervention International, and the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners.

"I'll accept the award on behalf of the charity and the incredible people I work with. I hope this honour helps raise the profile of the Kotuku Foundation, as the work it does is so important to people it helps," she said.

Ms Donne said the award came as a great shock.

"I was standing in the post office with the mail, and saw the letter with the Governor-General's stamp on it. The Governor-General is our patron, so we do get letters from her from time to time.

"But when I read the letter, I burst into tears. It's such an amazing thing to be granted."

Ms Donne said it had been particularly difficult to keep the news quiet.

She plans to have a celebration with family and friends once the news becomes official - but she hasn't yet decided what form it will take.