| NEWS |  | | | | | | | | | EAGLE EYE NEWS | | | | BIZARRE LONDON | | | | |
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Paunchy pooch fights the flab at pet fit club
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| Hefty hound: Chip is the heaviest of all 10 pets taking part in the furry fitness challenge. |
A chunky Croydon dog who has embarked on national weight loss programme for pets has lost nearly three pounds since starting his healthy regime.
Chip the Labrador went for his fortnightly weigh-in at the PDSA PetAid hospital in Hurst Road last week, delighting staff with his progress.
Chip, who lives with his owner in West Croydon, is the heaviest of 10 pets all over the country taking part in the Pet Fit Club, organised by the veterinary charity PDSA.
At 10st 4lbs, Chip is more than double the weight he should be and is even heavier than Croydon supermodel Kate Moss.
His owner, 64-year-old John Turnball admitted he "eats anything" and says whenever he takes him out to exercise he gets distracted by bitches.
But Chip has lost 1.3 kilos - 2.8lbs - since starting his new diet and exercise programme, which has been designed by vets and nurses at the PDSA.
Ann Radford, the PDSA veterinary surgeon at the Hurst Road surgery who is looking after Chip, said: "His weight has stablised a little bit. We would have liked him to lose a bit more, but he has also lost a couple of inches from his waist so overall I'm pleased with him.
"He seems to be sticking to the diet but there was an incident with some crabsticks earlier on in the programme. His owner was trying to get him to eat his healthy food by offering him crabsticks, which I would not advise as it defeats the object.
"It should be a gradual thing - we don't want to see him lose it too fast.
"He's been trying to exercise but, as with other large dogs like Chip, he doesn't want to because he has pain in his joints, so he's on pain relief so we can get him mobile."
Chip is competing with nine other cats and dogs from all over the UK. The pet with the best proportional weight-loss that best sticks to the programme will be crowned PDSA Pet Fit Camp champion in December, winning their owner a pet-friendly break in Pembrokeshire.
To follow Chip's progress, visit pdsa.org.uk/petfitclub and raise money for the PDSA by sponsoring his weight loss at justgiving.com/SponsorChip.
3:30pm Saturday 14th October 2006
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