THE annual New Year's Day Dog Show, organised by Bolton Canine Society, was another overwhelming success.

The show, held at Deane Sports Centre, attracted people from all over the country to show off 373 dogs in classes catering from tiny toy breeds to the giants of the doggy world.

The prestigious Best in Show was awarded to a Rhodesian Ridgeback owned by a couple from Huddersfield.

The show, which was once the largest one day show in the country, has been held in Bolton on New Year's Day for more than 80 years. It was originally held in Silverwell Street Sports Hall, but organisers were forced to look for another venue when the hall was closed in January 1994.

This is the third year running that the event has been held at Deane.

Society Secretary Paul Lee admitted that when the dog show had to move from the much-loved venue at Silverwell Street, people did lose interest. But he said enthusiasm for the event is rapidly returning as the show re-establishes itself in canine circles.

Mr Lee said: "There must have been over 500 people at the show and we were very pleased with the whole event. The staff and management at Deane were marvellous and the quality of entries to the show was outstanding."

The next show is the annual one in early August, but Mr Lee admits that the committee is already looking ahead to the show which will be held on New Year's Day, to mark the Millennium.

"We will be pulling out all the stops for that show. We want to make it a really big one - the likes of which we'll never see again."

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