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Pub dog helps find missing black pudding trophy

Haider SaleemNorth West
News imagePhil Taylor Organiser Paul Jenkins (R), Jessica Murray (L) hold Daisy (center) and a gold trophy. Phil Taylor
The Jack Russell Chihuahua cross was sniffing around the area where the trophy was found

A pub dog helped uncover a trophy which disappeared during the Black Pudding Throwing Championships after she began sniffing around a seat where it had been left among toilet rolls.

Daisy, a Jack Russell-Chihuahua cross, caught the attention of The Oaks landlady Jessica Murray on Monday evening at the Ramsbottom pub.

When Murray investigated, she found the missing cup in a storage alcove beneath a lift-up seat, alongside toilet rolls kept there.

Organiser Paul Jenkins told BBC Radio Lancashire Breakfast the trophy had been located late on Monday.

News imagePhil Taylor a gold trophy sits ontop a pile of loo roles inside an open draw. Phil Taylor
Jessica Murray shows where the trophy was found after Daisy began sniffing around the storage space beneath a pub seat

"What better place to stash such an important historical piece of plasticky tin," he joked.

The trophy had disappeared from the presentation table during Sunday's competition, meaning organisers could not hold the usual trophy-lifting moment at the end of the event.

Jenkins said he hoped somebody had moved it as a prank, although it was not known how it came to be beneath the seat.

News imagePHIL TAYLOR June, a woman with grey hair, wears a blue jumper and smiles brightly as she holds up a rosette.PHIL TAYLOR
June Weir became the first female winner in the event's history

June Weir, 73, from Wilpshire, Lancashire, became the competition's first female champion as a joint winner after knocking down six Yorkshire puddings by throwing black puddings at them.

Jenkins said there had been a large reaction to the trophy's disappearance, including offers of replacements.

He joked that organisers would be taking greater precautions next year, including "locked cages" and "guard dogs".

"It's not going out of our sight again," he said

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