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Waimea Weekly - 2 October 2024

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Waimea Weekly Locally Owned and Operated

Sideshow Bob pays off

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PAGES 20-24

NEW LOCATION

Wednesday 2 October 2024

Pasifika celebrated

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Dedicated tail waggers bring a smile ANNE HARDIE For the past 30 years, Sue Lindsay has had therapy dogs that have put smiles on faces around rest homes, kindergartens and the hospital. It started with a black labrador named Ruby who visited res-

idents in Green Gables Care Centre in Nelson and today it’s a heading dog-Hungarian Vizsla-cross named Toki that would be taller than petite Sue if he stood on his hind legs. He’s a big dog with a kind heart that has been visiting patients and residents for the past five years and

thrives on the attention. Sue and her friend, Margaret Scaife, whose latest therapy dog in-training is 18-month-old Finley, are two of 14 dog owners in Nelson Tasman who are part of the Canine Friends Pet Therapy network. As volunteers, they take their dogs on visits to people who

can often benefit from simply stroking a dog. When Toki was just a year old, he became the first authorised dog in the region to visit patients in hospital, which is no mean feat by the time they had ticked the boxes for a police check, vaccinations and clearances for dogs. It was a

role he had for four years, helping patients in intensive care or medical wards by easing stress, and also stroke victims who reached out to pet him. “There’s so much global evidence about using animals for stroke

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Racing Donkeys kick Spring Challenge STEPHEN STUART

Team Racing Donkeys Eloise Fry, left, Sophie Hart and Susie Wood after their runaway win in the Merrell Spring Challenge 2024. Photo: Stephen Stuart.

LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED

A Wakefield GP, a Nelson scientist and a former Nelson doctor have crossed the Rabbit Island finish line first in an adventure challenge that took them from hills to sea. More than a thousand female adventure racers fronted up for the 18th running of the Merrell Spring Challenge across the Tasman District on Saturday. The elite teams of three tackled the rafting, mountainbiking, hiking, running and orienteering hills to beach course, expected to take up to nine hours.

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