A TRAVELLING bear spent a week in Bury to raise awareness of breed specific legislation and its effect on ordinary families and their pets.

Kev, the stuffed bear, spends a week at a time with different people around the UK to raise awareness of the discrimination against staffies.

Breed specific legislation is a blanket term for laws that regulate or ban certain breeds in hopes of reducing dog attacks.

Carol Bell, of Wash Lane, Bury, who owns two pitbulls said: “We started passing Kev around in memory of a good friend from London, Kevin Pang, who died of stomach cancer.

“Kevin used to do a lot of fundraising and raising awareness of the discrimination against staffies so we decided to have the bear keep doing this work.

“Each time someone new hosts Kev, they pay £5 which goes towards rescuing the animals.

“Some people like to say that pitbull-types are aggressive but that’s not true.

“It’s down to how the dog is raised and the way its owners treat it.

“My two dogs are very gentle and loving towards children and more people need to be aware that these animals are kind as long as the owners are.”

Kev has so far been in Norfolk and travelled to Bury to spend the week with Carol, a pharmacy technician, where he visited Bury Market Hall.

To request Kev for a week: go to Wags and Bones Staffie support group at tinyurl.com/wagsandbones