Teresa Cargill (middle) with sponsors and Best in Show winner Diesel (right) and Reserve Best in Show (Lola).Teresa Cargill (middle) with sponsors and Best in Show winner Diesel (right) and Reserve Best in Show (Lola).
Teresa Cargill (middle) with sponsors and Best in Show winner Diesel (right) and Reserve Best in Show (Lola).

Fun dog show in Peterborough raises over £1000 for dog rescue charity

A fun dog show, held in Peterborough has raised over £1000 for animal rescue charity Phoenix French Bulldog Rescue.

Dog lovers descended on the pub garden at The Blue Boar in Eye last Sunday to enjoy the sunshine, celebrate their dogs and raise money. The final total came to £1088.96.

There were rosettes and goodybags on offer for all entrants finishing fourth to first in each class, with classes including Cutest Puppy, Waggiest Tail, Prettiest Bitch, Dog Most like its owner and Best Fancy Dress.

The winners from each class were then entered into Best in Show, which was won by Staffordshire Bull Terrier Diesel, who also took home the prize for Friendliest Pooch and third in Waggiest Tail.

This meant he won the prize of a seven night stay in the Luxury Amblewood Kennels on Oxney Road, donated by Amblewood owner, Hilary.

Reserve Best in Show was won by 3-year-old Samoyed Lola and she was rewarded with a voucher for a two hour groom and pamper session.

On the day, a special doggy tombola was set up. Each pooch could put their head into a bucket of tennis balls, pull out a winning number and win a prize from a box of doggy treats. There also a tombola for humans, children’s entertainment provided by Thorney Lakes Golf Club and a raffle, all with prizes kindly donated by the local community, with the grand prize being a hot air balloon ride donated by Gary Davies.

Katie Friel, Phoenix’s Regional Coordinator for Peterborough, also baked 100 cupcakes for dogs, which included egg, peanut butter, pumpkin, flour, natural yoghurt and ground cinnamon. They were then sold for £1 each as part of the Captain Sir Tom Moore challenge. On the weekend of what would have been of his birthday, his family challenged people to raise money for a charity of their choice around the number 100.

The funds raised will be used to support the work of Phoenix French Bulldog Rescue. The charity was set up in 2016 by Teresa Cargill to make sure any French or English Bulldogs would have a safe home to go to.

Whenever a person surrenders a dog to the charity, it is placed into a pre-assessed foster home, not kennels. During this stay, which is a minimum of two weeks, the dogs are assessed and given all of the physical and behavioural support they need before taking adoption applications.

They have regional coordinators across the country, who have been working hard to keep the work of the charity going throughout the challenges of the pandemic. The dog show provided a welcome chance to raise much needed funds, whose vet bills for March 2021 totalled £11,000.

CEO and Founder Teresa Cargill, who also judged said: “It’s amazing to see so many people out together and supporting us today. The local community has been so supportive and it’s in large part to them we are able to do what we do.

“I would also like to say a massive thank you to all of our sponsors

“There were so many lovely dogs in the show today, I found judging the categories so hard.”

To find out more about Phoenix’s work of how to volunteer, visit phoenixfrenchbulldogrescue.org or go to www.facebook.com/PhoenixFrenchBulldogRescue/.