 |
| Barney
- 1st |
 |
| Dante
- 2nd |
Two
winning galgos!
Oldham
Carnival is an annual event to raise funds for local charities.
There
is a
procession of floats that go around the streets and finish up in
Alexandra
Park. They have all sorts of charity stalls and bouncy castles
and a stage where local bands play and an arena where all the
dance
troops from the carnival compete for various awards.
To
try and socialise Barney a bit, we took him and Dante – our 2
galgos, ( and the
children!) to
the park to experience the sights and sounds. Poor Barney
didn't know
what to make of it all. We stumbled upon the RSPCA stall, and of
course, they
all made a fuss of both dogs. They were running dog shows
throughout the
day so we entered Barney and Dante into the "best
rescue"
class. We
paraded into the ring at our given time. Richard had Barney and
I
had Dante, and
when the judges came round they asked for the background on
Barney.
Richard explained where he was from and the terrible treatment
that
he's suffered
and showed his scars. He also explained the mental scars he
has. Richard
also told them of the work of GIN. He had them reaching for
their hankies
by the time he'd finished! They then came to me and I told
them that
Dante was my Christmas present, although I said that I think we
were each
others Christmas present! I explained that he was from the same
place as
Barney, but he seems to have been luckier than Barney, in that
he
has no mental
or physical scars. When asked what the best thing about him
is, I told
them he's just so lovable!
The
judges went to the centre of the ring to deliberate and
announced that
the best
rescue dog was Barney! I thought Dante wouldn't get a look in
and
thought me and
Dante would never live it down! Then they announced that the
second prize
went to Dante! They proudly wore their rosettes on their leads
for the rest
of the day. Lots of people stop to stroke them and ask about
them. One
little girl thought Dante looked like the pink panther! Last
year
a little boy
thought he was a kangaroo. The world must look very different
from 3 foot
off the ground!
The
poochies had a special treat of a sausage each when they got
home. I
think Barney
was just pleased to be home and away from all the fuss, and in
true Galgo
style they both went to sleep for the evening!
Lisa
and Richard Marks