Cotswold Wildlife Park wins prestigious national award for its dedication to dogs.
Voted entirely by the public, Cotswold Wildlife Park won the Kennel Club's Be Dog Friendly Award for Most Dog Friendly Day Out in the UK, an award the Park are thrilled to receive.
The Park has been dog friendly from the day it first opened in 1970. Reggie Heyworth, Managing Director of Cotswold Wildlife Park, said: "In the early days of the Wildlife Park we were alone in the zoo community for allowing dogs on the premises, even though it meant that we were therefore barred from being members of the UK Zoo Federation! In those days, we were under a lot of pressure to ban dogs, but my father, the founder of the park, was never without his dogs trotting along behind him so it was out of the question that we would ban dogs!"
Many of the staff are devoted dog owners. One of the newest members of the canine family include Finance Director Nichola Waddicor's rescue dog Freddie. When he is at the Park, Freddie goes everywhere with Nichola, riding in the basket of her bike around the Park. His start in life was a tragic one. He was abandoned (along with his brother) at the bottom of a farm track in Carmarthen back in August 2013. The two dogs were taken in by a lady who nursed them back to health when they were around six weeks old. Six more puppies were found further down the lane by someone who handed them into the RSPCA. Freddie has been with Nichola and her family since October 2013 and a family friend gave Freddie's brother (named Timmy) a home and they see each other regularly.
Explore Gloucestershire
20 November 2014
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