A dog lover whose photo won a cutest pet competition was upset to learn she'd been disqualified because her pooch was dead.
Jill Tubbs' photo of her beloved chocolate Labrador, Bounty, perched on a plant pot as a puppy picked up the most votes in a competition run by local paper, The Melksham News.
However, when Jill, who lives in Melksham, Wiltshire, mentioned that the photo was taken 11 years ago and that Bounty had died in January this year (before she entered the competition), the paper said her entry was no longer eligible.
Instead they crowned the second place entrant, spaniel Charlie, as the winner.
Jill, who runs the local franchise of a pet nutrition specialist shop with her husband, Steve Tubbs, said she was 'disappointed' Bounty was erased from the competition altogether.
She said: "We didn't want the prize; we would have donated it if we had have received it. But we wanted some acknowledgement that Bounty had won.
"The competition said to enter a cute picture so that's what we did. It didn't say the picture had to be current or that the dog had to be alive."
Grandmother-of-one, Jill, continued: "When I got a call from the paper to say Bounty had won, I explained that Bounty wasn't with us anymore and I was told the reporter would have to speak to his boss about what to do.
"I didn't get a call back, just an email and, when the announcement was made, they said the other dog had won. But he hadn't, Bounty had won.
"The announcement discounted Bounty completely."
Speaking of the picture she entered, which took top spot out of 139 entries, Jill said it was such a natural shot.
She said: "Bounty had been playing with the other dogs and had climbed up onto the pot on his own and just sat there. You couldn't have posed him to do that. It was lucky I had my phone ready to take a picture at that moment.
"Bounty was such a lovely dog. He was very calm and placid. a really beautiful boy."
Jill added: "The competition asked for the cutest dog picture and we sent one in. It was nice that the photo we sent in was of Bounty and we were able to honour his memory."
Jill and Steve, who have been married for over 40 years and have two children, got their first dog as a family in 1988 and, at one point, had a total of seven dogs.
Following the death of Bounty in January and her mum, Barney, a few weeks before, the family now has four dogs all named after chocolate treats in honour of their breed: six-month old puppy, Aero, Aero's mum, Rolo, Aero's gran, Button and Aero's aunt, Truffle.
Bounty sadly passed away from a tumour at the top of his nasal passage having developed it in March 2021.
Jill said: "Up until December you wouldn't have known anything was wrong with Bounty apart from the occasional nose bleed and sneeze. But the tumour broke through eventually and we had to make a decision to put him to sleep."
She added: "I don't feel any animosity towards the paper but I am disappointed. I'm disappointed they didn't say anything about Bounty. The competition was the winner of a cute photo ` they didn't have any other specifications.
"We would have liked them to say that Bounty won but we have put the dog who came second in first place because Bounty is no longer with us."
Following the announcement of Charlie, the spaniel, as the winner, the Melksham News issued a statement on Facebook to confirm that Bounty did receive the most votes but was not eligible to enter the competition.
The statement said: "Our competition was open to pets living in the Melksham News distribution area.
"As readers had voted for a puppy, and not an adult dog, we felt that this was not in the spirit of the competition and thought it more appropriate to give the prize to Charlie, who came a very close second.
"We apologise for any upset that this has caused."
The post has divided opinion with some people agreeing Bounty's win should have been mentioned while others congratulated Charlie on his success.
Facebook user Maggie Pine commented: 'Poor Bounty, the real winner didn't get what was rightfully his'.
Another commenter, Teresah Peters, wrote: 'Dead dogs can't win prizes though.'
When contacted, Joe McCann, Operations Manager for Wiltshire Publications added: "Our competition was open to pets living in the Melksham News distribution area.
"It was a competition for a pet to win a prize of a hamper donated by a local business and be featured in the newspaper with its owners.
"A photo of Bounty as a puppy did receive the most votes but Bounty was not eligible to enter the competition as we were informed by his owners that he had sadly died at the age of 11, prior to being entered.
"As a result, we presented the prize of a hamper to Charlie, who came a very close second. We issued a statement at the time to apologise for any upset this may have caused."
