Canal & River Trust need a dog
A SEARCH is underway to find a ‘canal loving canine' to front a marketing campaign for the charity taking over from British Waterways.
Your dog could be the one to be the face of Canal & River Trust, which takes over British Waterways' next April, with a dedicated Flickr page set up (see below) asking dog lovers up and down the country to put their man's best friend forward' and post pictures of their dogs by the canal to be in with a chance to front a national campaign during 2012.
A 2010 Inland Waterways Visits Survey revealed that dog walkers are some of the most frequent visitors to the canals each year. In 2009, dog walkers were the fourth most popular visitor group (0.6 million) behind ‘using towpaths to get somewhere' (0.8m), ‘visiting the pub' (1m) and ‘to walk, run or ramble' (1.7m).
Tony Hales, (pictured with Nellie)) who will be the chairman of Canal & River Trust, explained:
"This is an exciting time for us and the beginning of a new chapter in the renaissance of the waterways. Our research has shown us that dog walkers are some of the most regular visitors to the waterways so this is a fun and interactive way of getting them involved with the new charity. It would be fantastic if as many people as possible posted pictures of their pooches by the water online.
www.flickr.com/groups/canaldogwalker"Being a regular dog walker myself I know first-hand that dogs love a long walk along the canal. The canal and river towpaths are ideal dog walking stretches because they're a mix of busy and quieter spots and sights and smells which are perfect for them to explore. There are hundreds of miles of freely accessible canal and river towpaths providing fantastic routes for dog walkers giving people and their dogs an excellent way to enjoy their local environment whilst getting some exercise at the same time."