The Best in Show winner from this year’s 147th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show has a local connection. “Buddy Holly,” a 6-year-old male Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, is handled and co-owned by Janice Hayes, a 1999 graduate of Gloucester High School. Hayes (shown above with Buddy) got her start in the show ring with the Gloucester Kennel Club as a junior member/handler. “If you’re not into dogs, Westminster is like winning the Kentucky Derby of dog shows,” said Janice’s step-mom, Martha Hayes of Gloucester. Buddy bested a field of 2,500 entered dogs to win the top prize on May 9, the final day of the two-day competition. Buddy is the first dog of his breed (also known by the acronym PBGV, “Pee Bee Gee Vee”) to take Best in Show.
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