Guide Dogs announces regional winners in inspirational Guide Dog of the Year Awards

Guide Dogs announces regional winners in inspirational Guide Dog of the Year Awards

There are three categories of award; Life-changing, Outstanding Work and Beyond the Call of Duty Guide Dog of the Year. The Regional Winners are:

Guide dog, Owner, Lives

Ashby, Lucy Jaques, Dorking, Surrey

Calvin, Wayne Busbridge and Hazel Dudley, Wimbledon, London

Della, Angela Wales, Glasgow, Scotland

Holly, Kelly Cronin,York, North Yorkshire

Peter, Philip Godber, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Ronnie, Maxine Ingram, Kidwelly, Dyfed

Theo, Katie Meakin, Coventry, Warwickshire

Wendy, Nicola West, Southampton, Hampshire

Yaron, Jon Hastie, West Kirby, Merseyside

A panel of judges will now have to make the difficult decision of which dog is name top of each award category. The three category winners will then go nose to nose to as judges decide which dog is crowned Overall Guide Dog of the Year 2008.

Last year’s champion, guide dog Roz, was rewarded for her heroic actions when she was suddenly viciously and savagely attacked by a large dog when she was out guiding her owner Gary. Gary says: “Being totally blind, I felt completely powerless and could do nothing more than to hold tightly on to Roz’s lead.”

The owner of the attacking dog did not try to help or stop this happening and when the dog was eventually brought under control, the owners left the scene without offering assistance to Gary and Roz.  Despite suffering from horrendous injuries and bleeding heavily, Roz still managed to safely guide her owner Gary the half mile home. She was lucky to be alive, and it was thought that she would have to retire due to physical injuries which included four severe bite wounds, 13 smaller wounds and a badly damaged tail, as well as the mental trauma she would have suffered.

However after spending hours in surgery, having her injuries tended to, and many weeks rest and recuperation, she is now back guiding Gary to his workplace in busy Birmingham City Centre. 

Vicky Bell, a spokesperson for Guide Dogs, says:  “We are delighted to announce the Regional Winners in the Guide Dog of the Year Awards 2008. We have received many fantastic stories of life-changing guide dogs, and heard about the huge differences that they have made to the lives of their blind and partially-sighted owners. Now we only have to wait a little bit longer to find out who is Overall Guide Dog of the Year 2008!”