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Pet dog Zoe goes walkies up the aisle
DOG-LOVERS Claire Livingstone and fiance Mel Dixon are so devoted to their pet pooch Zoe that they had her as a ring bearer at their wedding.
Claire, 43, and Mel, 41, were married on Saturday – and Zoe won applause for being a star of the show.
Claire took Zoe in from a local animal rescue shelter nine years ago after she had been dumped by the roadside.
Zoe, who became a family favourite, had an important role at the marriage – the wedding rings were on a cushion attached to her collar as she followed the bride and bridegroom up the aisle at Springwell Village Methodist Church, Washington.
Claire, of Prestwick Close, Usworth, said: "The reason I wanted her at the church was that she's been part of our lives. We got her from a cat and dog shelter nine years ago, when she was about 18 months old.
"She was thrown out of a car and two young boys took her to the shelter. They found her by the roadside and took her in.
"It's terrible how people can be so cruel. If they can be cruel to animals, it's their nature to be cruel to human beings.
"She's not just a dog – she's been part of my family and I wanted her to be at our wedding. I didn't want her to be left by herself."
Claire said Zoe obediently followed them up the aisle, and the best man, Mel's brother Kevin, took the rings from the cushion attached to her collar and laid them before the minister, the Reverend Kathy Reader.
Claire added: "The dog was there all the way through. The ceremony was 45 minutes to an hour, but she was quite happy.
"She lay down all the way through. She was as good as gold, There were about 170 at the service and everyone applauded at the end. The minister was brilliant – she loved the dog."
Claire said that after the service Zoe was rewarded with a present of a ball and dog biscuit from friends Julie and Dave Richardson, who organised the reception.
Zoe, having fulfilled her duty, did not attend the post-nuptual celebrations at Springwell Social Club in Washington.
But she was taken home in style by the newly-weds – in a Rolls Royce – before the happy couple rejoined the party.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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