Featured Image Credit: tammyfox/instagram/ITV
Topics: Animals, Dogs, Saturday Night Takeaway, Travel, TV and Film, Charity
Joe Harker
Topics: Animals, Dogs, Saturday Night Takeaway, Travel, TV and Film, Charity
A woman who won a holiday on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway for her part in raising awareness for animals with disabilities won't be using her prize.
Tammy Fox runs charity Pumpkin and Friends, named after her own paraplegic dog who uses a buggy with wheels to move around.
The West Highland Terrier also suffers from a lack of bladder control.
Tammy and her partner, Richard Blogg, won a 'Takeaway Getaway' which meant they were meant to be going on holiday in recognition of the 43-year-old's work in helping disabled animals, but there was a catch.
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It turns out they won't be going as they aren't allowed to take Pumpkin along.
The couple have said they'd keep a close eye on the dog while she was on the plane, but they've not been able to get around the terms and conditions of the flight.
"I’m angry," Tammy told The Sun of her reaction to the news that she wouldn't be able to take her beloved dog on the holiday.
"This is effectively discrimination against my disabled dog.
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"We wouldn’t have the holiday if it wasn’t for Pumpkin so it’s only right that she comes.”
"We’re all devastated after being given a prize only for our dreams to be snatched away from us. We had such a good time on the show but it’s all been spoilt."
Airlines in the UK do not allow pets to fly in the passenger cabin of a plane, with the exception of assistance dogs, meaning that people wanting to bring their pets on holiday would instead have to make them travel as cargo.
Transporting a pet as cargo can be a very expensive business which can be significantly more pricey than affording the cost of travel yourself.
Tammy told LADbible she was trying to get TUI to let her raffle off the Saturday Night Takeaway prize for her charity instead of offering a gift voucher as a replacement.
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She said: "I’ve asked if TUI will allow me to exchange the name of the winning tickets and they won’t. It’s got to be me personally that takes the holiday or basically lose the holiday.
“What we’ve put to TUI now is I want to donate it to the charity, I want them to allow me to use this holiday for people which can be for 41 destinations in the world or five cruises including for the Dominican Republic.
“We’ve worked it out that the value of the holiday could be up to £10,000. All TUI have offered so far is a gift voucher to use with TUI that I can donate to the charity for £500, which is really just a drop in the ocean.
“We’ve gone back to TUI now, what I want to do is use the full prize which is a holiday for four people, all inclusive including excursions, to go for 41 destinations.”
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She said she was 'determined to turn this horrible experience into a positive one'.
TUI said they couldn't get around the rules which meant dogs weren't allowed to travel in the plane cabin.
They said: "We were delighted when Tammy was recognised on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway we think she does amazing work.
"We appreciate she’s disappointed it’s not possible to bring Pumpkin on the holiday prize she was awarded, but sadly UK airline policies prohibit non-assistance dogs travelling in an airplane cabin.
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"We’ve discussed this with Tammy and understand she doesn’t want to travel without Pumpkin.
"Whilst we’re tied to terms and conditions and policies around the prize, we’re in touch with her team about other ways we might be able to support the charity as a gesture of goodwill."
TUI later told LADbible: "We appreciate Tammy’s disappointed it’s not possible to bring Pumpkin on the overseas holiday prize she was awarded on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
"This is no way discriminatory against Pumpkin. Sadly UK airline policies prohibit non-assistance dogs travelling in an airplane cabin and we understand her needs mean hold travel isn’t an option.
"Whilst Tammie doesn’t want to travel without Pumpkin we offered her the opportunity for her family to take the holiday on her behalf and to donate a travel voucher to raise money for the charity as a gesture of good will."
LADbible have contacted ITV for further comment.