DIARY DATE
THE WESTMINSTER DOG OF THE YEAR COMPETITION

What:   The Westminster Dog of the Year competition

When:   25 October 2007, judging starts at 11.00am

Where:   Victoria Tower Gardens, next to House of Lords, Millbank SW1

Who:   Dogs Trust and the Kennel Club, together with assorted MPs, peers, political correspondents and their dogs.
 Judges include Eric Martlew MP, Clarissa Baldwin (Dogs Trust CEO) and Rose Smart (Kennel Club CEO)

Daisy McAndrew (ITV News Chief Political Correspondent) will be presenting the prizes

Forget the Labour deputy leadership battle and Blair’s legacy, it’s the Westminster Dog of the Year competition which is undoubtedly the grand pawlitical showdown of 2007.

Dogs from all shades of the political spectrum will be represented at what has become known as the canine equivalent of the general election.  Much more than a mere beauty pageant, the Westminster Dog of the Year competition aims to find the nation’s true top dog, based on the contestants’ good deeds, winning personalities and dogged devotion to their owner – and vice versa.

This year’s competition has a brand new class just for dogs belonging to Westminster political correspondents, thus enabling the hacks’ hounds to throw their leashes into the ring too.

Also debuting this year will be a class for “Best Returning Westminster Dog,” allowing previous contestants the chance to rejoin the competition.  Last year’s winner, Tag, a German Shepherd dog owned by Eric Martlew MP (Lab, Carlisle), will be coming along to lend a paw with the final judging.

The application forms are about to be sent out to the great and the good of Westminster, and the closing date for entries is 21 September. 

Who knows, this year may even see a Gordon (Setter) as winner!

ENDS

Notes to editors:

If you are a political correspondent (print, broadcast or online) and you’d like your dog to take part in the competition, please email: deana.selby@dogstrust.org.uk or laura.vallance@thekennelclub.org.uk for an application form.  The closing date for entries is 21 September.

For more information, please contact:

Deana Selby  Dogs Trust press office  020 7833 7634
   Deana.selby@dogstrust.org.uk

Sara Wilde  The Kennel Club press office  020 7518 1008
   sara.wilde@thekennelclub.org.uk

Dogs Trust is working towards the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.
The primary objective of the Kennel Club is to promote, in every way, the general improvement of dogs and furthermore to protect and promote the dog's varied roles in society.