
Back to Blogs
Discover
Winner of Pap Your Pooch Competition Announced
Winners of competition run by the town’s official tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond announced.

Howard King, Kate Munroz with Apollo and Jon Kay with Loki. Photo: Phil Morley.
A Border Collie from Bury St Edmunds and his hooman have won a prize for the best photograph in an iconic location in the town.
Apollo and his hooman Kate Munoz entered the competition run by the town’s official tourism brand Bury St Edmunds and Beyond as part of their national digital marketing campaign to promote dog friendly stays.
To enter, people were encouraged to take a photo of their canine companion in an iconic Bury St Edmunds location and upload it to Facebook or Instagram, tagging Bury St Edmunds & Beyond in the post and use the hashtag #dogfriendlybse. Then visit the town’s Dog Friendly Bury St Edmunds website to find out how to plan their next dog friendly stay and to find out which businesses are dog friendly!
The photo of Apollo among the ruins in the Abbey Gardens was chosen as the winner by the competition judge Jon Kay, owner of Camp Tails Doggy Daycare.
Jon, who also founded the town’s dog friendly scheme with help from Bury St Edmunds Town Council, Our Bury St Edmunds BID, and Bury St Edmunds and Beyond, said: “I was so excited to support the competition and promote our amazing town. We had some amazing entries, but Apollo’s picture was not only fab, but it also just shouted Bury St Edmunds. I so loved it.”
Apollo and Kate won a portrait in pencil of Apollo by Howard King of Pets in Pencils and a super stylish collar and lead, plus bowl and treats from Camp Tails Doggy Day Care. Apollo and Kate were presented with their prizes in Bury St Edmunds, which has just been voted England’s Most Dog Friendly Town, on 19 December.
Kate said: “As an American expat living in Bury St Edmunds, we love living here especially knowing that it is a dog friendly town. The fact that we can include our one-year-old pup Apollo in our day-to-day errands makes our lives easier. Apollo is a social and energetic border collie who loves meeting new people in the Abbey. We saw that there was a contest going on and thought it would be fun to throw our photo into the mix and we were so excited and grateful to be chosen.”

The winning photo of Apollo in the Abbey Gardens by Kate Munoz
Howard King, from Pets in Pencils, said: “Being a real lover of dogs I was delighted to be asked to support the competition and provide the portrait of the winner dog, Apollo.”
The Dog Friendly Digital Marketing Campaign ran in October and November but has now been restarted thanks to the town winning England’s Most Dog Friendly Town at the Dog Friendly Magazine Awards on November 29, coming second to Girvan in Scotland for the Most Dog Friendly Town/City in the UK.
The campaign so far has delivered nearly three million advertisements targeted to dog owners, generated over 150,000 ad views of the campaign’s dog friendly video, which stars Jon and his Labrador Loki. The video was shot from a dog’s eye view of the town by filmmakers Move Media and shown at the awards. The Dog Friendly pages on the website have been viewed over 42,000 times since the campaign started.
Sue Warren, Marketing Manager of Our Bury St Edmunds BID which looks after the tourism brand, said: “The campaign was a huge success and highlighted to visitors but also local people that Bury St Edmunds is very dog friendly. Being voted England’s most dog friendly town was the icing on the cake!”
More information on dog friendly things to see and do and where to stay visit the official tourism website for Bury St Edmunds www.dogfriendlybse.co.uk
Latest news

News
6 Things You May Not Know About The Athenaeum
From visits from Charles Dickens to a hidden Victorian observatory, The Athenaeum is an iconic building in Bury St Edmunds with an interesting history.

News
The Largest Witch Trial in English History
The largest witch trial in English's history took place in Bury St Edmunds in 1645. We take a look at this tragic episode in our town's history which has inspired a new play.

News
The Bury St Edmunds Witch Trials are the Focus of a New Production by Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds
We speak to writer Tallulah Brown and Director Owen Calvert Lyons about their new production of A Tryal of Witches about how the play's themes are still very much relevant today as it was in 1600s.

News
Cinema Launches New Film and Food Events for Spring
Abbeygate Cinema Launches New Film and Food Events for Spring
News
Patron Announced for The Abbey of St Edmund, Reborn Project
The Marquess of Bristol will be the new Patron for the Abbey project to conserve ruins and develop a Visitor Centre.

News
A Journey Through the Senses in Bury St Edmunds & Beyond
Engage all your senses and enjoy the wonders of Bury St Edmunds and Beyond...

News
Internationally Renowned American Author Visits Bury St Edmunds and Sets New Record for Town’s Tour Guides
Internationally Renowned American Author Visits Bury St Edmunds and Sets New Record for Town’s Tour Guides

News
Rare account of Bury St Edmunds witch trial to go in display
A 300-year-old rare book, giving an account of one of Bury St Edmunds’ infamous witch trials, is to go on display in the town’s museum

News
The Bury St Edmunds Witch Trial That Influenced the Salem Witch Trials
How a Witch Trial held in Bury St Edmunds influenced the famous Salem Witch Trials.