7/27/2019 Animals the key, says ex-All Black (Southland Times; 2013.10.24)

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Themessage: Former All Black Norm Hewitt gestures to years 7 and8 students at AuroraCollege as he talks about theimportance of treatinganimals kindly. Photo:ROBYN EDIE/FAIRFAXNZ 628547237

Animals the key, says ex-All BlackAndrew Voerman

When his father came home angryand drunk, Norm Hewitt would gooutside and hug his horse Tommy.

While his dad fought with hismum, Hewitt and his six siblingswould also huddle together withtheir dogs to keep them comfort.

That is why the former AllBlack and Southland rugby playersays ‘‘animals are key’’ when itcomes to preventing domestic viol-ence.

He spoke to about 90 years 7 and8 students at Aurora College yes-terday as part of the SPCA ‘‘One of the Family’’ programme. For most

of the hour-long talk you couldhave mistaken him for a stand-upcomic. Putting on a variety of 

voices and speaking casually, heeasily captured attention andgenerated lots of laughter.

He took them back to his child-hood with a story about how awe-some it was to be looking forwardto fish and chips for dinner only tofind out that they would takeseven hours to arrive.

Why so long? Because his dadwas in the pub across the road,drinking, and would eventuallycome home with cold fish andchips and in a violent mood.

Hewitt said it did not happenevery day ‘‘but when it happened,

it was ugly’’. He talked about howhe would go to school with bruisesall over his body and none of the

other kids would look or talk tohim, and if it was not for his petshe would have had no support.

Strong bonds with animals arepart of his family life today, andHewitt spoke with pride abouthow ‘‘[his] family have never feltthe pain I had as a boy’’.

He also spoke about the powerof dreams, drawing on his own

 journey from small-town boy toAll Black, leading the haka infront of a crowd of 75,000 in Eng-land.

He said he was speaking to chil-dren in years 7 and 8 because that

was the age when people started toform their ‘‘social conscience’’ andhe encouraged them to ‘‘have a

goal’’ and ‘‘have a dream’’.Hewitt has worked with the

SPCA since 2007.SPCA national education co-

ordinator Shelley Ryan said sheand Hewitt had talked to almost90,000 children in those six years.

‘‘The feedback that we get fromstudents and teachers is amazing,’’she said.

‘‘They love the messages aboutlinks between animal cruelty anddomestic violence’’.❚ Andrew Voerman is a journalismstudent at the University ofCanterbury.