Pet Den

Eight of Britain's fattest pets are to embark on a 100-day diet and fitness regime (programme) in a bid to be crowned this year's pet fit club champion.

The seven dogs and one cat, who are all more than 30 per cent overweight and weigh a combined total of 191 kg (30 stones), were picked by veterinary charity PDSA who are running the slimming contest.The animals, who need to lose a total of 74 kg to reach their ideal weight, will be put on especially tailored diet and exercise programmes.

The pet who achieves the biggest percentage weight loss and best follows its new regime will be crowned champion, winning its owner a pet-friendly holiday.

PDSA statistics show around 30 per cent of Britain's dogs are overweight or obese, amounting to around 1.95 million fat dogs."Alongside their daily portions of pet food, owners often show their affection by giving unhealthy human treats such as cheese, buttered toast and biscuits. They don't realise they are actually killing their pets with kindness," said Sean Wensley, a veterinary surgeon at PDSA.

- Reuters

I have a pet dog. We call her Chubby. She is brown in colour.

She has small and short legs, but her tail is very long and her face is small.Chubby likes to drink milk and water; she likes to eat cakes, fish and rice. I like to play with Chubby.I love her and she loves me too.

Melinda S. Ranasinghe,
Grade 2A,St. Lawrence School.

My pet is a dog. Its name is Browny. Its tail is short, but it has a lot of fur. It likes to eat meat and rice and drink milk. Browny likes to play football. I play with it after school. I love my pet very much and it loves me a lot too.

Dasun Dissanayake,
Grade 4,Lyceum International School,Wattala.