Valuable Work In The Community By Assistance Dogs NZ

There are many charities quietly doing great work out of the spotlight in New Zealand society, providing valuable services to the community. Assistance Dogs New Zealand is one such charity putting plenty of time and effort in to helping those who are in need.

Assistance Dogs NZ (ADNZ) has its annual appeal week, 5th - 11th August and although they don’t like asking for handouts, it’s the only way they can supply their great service for those who need help.

“We have no government funding, so we’re very thankful for the generous donations, grants and bequests we receive,” said ADNZ, General Manager and South Island dog instructor, Mimi Hooper.

“Each dog costs $65,000, which covers from when it is conceived to when it is retired. We provide fully trained dogs nationwide and have been doing so for 10 years. We are a small registered charitable trust with a potential for huge growth, our waiting list grows daily with the need greater than our ability to provide.”

“We breed our own dogs, raise the puppies within the community using our amazing volunteer families, which we always need more of. Qualified staff train the dogs and then place and train the teams (dog and client/family) as well as provide a follow up service for the length of the dogs working life.”

ADNZ provides service dogs for people with disabilities, 90% of these being children with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, degenerative disorders resulting in wheel chair use and 10% adults with disabilities such as diabetes, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Epilepsy. The dogs provided perform tasks for clients which enable them, and their families to function better in their homes and communities for everything like supermarket shopping to visiting a local park.

ADNZ is internationally accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) and therefore recognised by the New Zealand Government which grants the dogs public access.

Collectors will be out in various locations around the country next week and are happy to give advice, talk to the public and explain how special ADNZ dogs are.

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