Meet Huddersfield’s most popular pet.
Charlie the chihuahua cross pug has won the Examiner’s 2015 Pet Idol competition.
The loveable dog will be two in July and is owned by children’s nurse Kyra Turpin who lives in Clayton West with her boyfriend, Curtis Townley.
Kyra, 24, got Charlie from her mum, Joanne Peace from Almondbury who had entered a French bulldog called Boris in Pet Idol.
Kyra said: “Charlie is bouncy, friendly, fun, loyal and crazy. He pulls out all his toys one by one and brings them to wherever I am – even if I’m upstairs getting ready to go out.
“He then loves to mess around with the toys at the top of thee steps and knocks them down one by one. You can hear them thumping down each step.
“His favourite is his blue sheep which he’s had since we got him. He sees it as his little baby and absolutely adores it.
“There are so many fields around us and Charlie loves going out for a walk. He’s usually really tired by the end and then sleeps all night on the rug or the sofa.”
Kyra trained at Sheffield Hallam University and for more than two years has been a paediatric nurse at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
“I love the job,” she said. “It’s just so different every day and so rewarding.”
Curtis has recently joined the army and passes out tomorrow. He will then join the Parachute Regiment.
Kyra has won the top prize of a £100 Pets At Home gift card.
The two runners-up each won £50 Pets At Home gift cards.
They are Dawn Percival with cat Toby which won the Cat’s category and Arif Sharif with his two-year-old peahen, Mereisspe, who won the Other Pet category.
Mereisspe has already featured in the Examiner earlier this year when she did a runner from Arif’s aviary in Birkby.
When Arif opened it up one day in January to feed his birds, which also include three pigeons, Mereisspe spotted her chance and escaped.
She was found in some gardens in Birkby days later and returned back home. Now Arif intends to enter his male peahen, Char, in the Pet Idol 2016 competition.
He is married to Shazia and the couple have three children Hamza, 17, Hashim, 15 and three-year-old Harris. The family live in Lindley.
Arif, who has his own business Sharif Plumbing, said: “It is possible to pick Mereisspe up but she can be a little volatile.”
The other runner-up was Toby the ginger cat owned by Dawn Percival who lives in Paddock with husband David and eight-year-old stepson Lee Balmforth.
Toby is two years old and Dawn got him from her aunt, Diane Eastwood, who lives in Meltham.
Dawn, 29 – who works as a controller for Mount Taxis in Marsh – said: “Toby is so placid and loving. He will lay on you if you are trying to go to sleep and really nuzzles in to get really comfy.
“But he’s also very playful too and will play hide and seek. He’ll often go into a cubby hole at the bottom of the stairs and then jump out and attack my trousers as I walk past.”
