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Terms and conditions

  1. These terms and conditions apply to the BBC Countryfile Magazine Dog of the Year 2025 promotion.
  2. The Promoter of the Competition is Our Media Limited (company number 05715415) a company incorporated in England and Wales whose registered address is at Eagle House, Colston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST (the “Promoter”).
  3. The BBC Code of Conduct for competitions can be found at https://www.bbc.com/editorialguidelines/guidance/code-of-conduct and all BBC magazines comply with the Code.
  4. The promotion is open to all residents of the UK, including the Channel Islands, aged 18 years or over, except employees or contractors of the Promoter and anyone connected with the promotion or their direct family members.
  5. The closing date for entries is 23:59 on 11/09/2025.
  6. By entering the promotion, the participants agree:

    a. to be bound by these terms and conditions;

    b. that their entry is entirely your own work and does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third parties;

    c. to grant BBC Countryfile Magazine and all of its associated titles, websites and platforms published or operated by Our Media Limited a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide and irrevocable licence to use, edit, reproduce and publish the submitted image(s) and accompanying text in any media, including online and in print;

    d. that any identifiable individual featured in the entry has given their explicit consent to the use of their image and/or personal data as described above;

    e. that their name and county of residence may be released if they win a prize;

    f. and that should they win the promotion, their name and likeness may be used by the Promoter for pre-arranged promotional purposes.
  7. Entrants should enter by completing the submission form on the BBC Countryfile Magazine Dog of the Year microsite advertorial.ourmedia.co.uk/doty2025 with a photo of their dog, their dog’s name, a supporting statement as to why they deserve to be crowned Dog of the Year, the entrant’s name and their email address. Entries received after the closing date of the promotion will not be considered.
  8. Photos must be submitted in a digital format (JPEG or PNG). To ensure suitable quality for publication in print or online, images should ideally be between 100 KB and 50 MB in file size. The Promoter is not responsible for corrupted or unreadable files.
  9. Entrants must supply their name and email to Our Media Limited.  The Promoter will use entrants’ personal details in accordance with the Our Media Privacy Policy (https://policies.ourmedia.co.uk/privacy-policy/).  
  10. Entrants may submit one entry per category in the Competition, regardless of the method of entry. Bulk or automated entries submitted by third parties will not be accepted. Each dog may be entered into the Competition by only one owner, and cannot be submitted by multiple individuals.
  11. A panel of judges comprising members of the Countryfile editorial team and one independent member from Our Media Limited (the “Judging Panel”) will review all eligible entries. The panel will shortlist five dogs for each of the four categories: Adventure Buddy, Working Dog, Cuddle Champion, and Rescue Dog.

    The judges will assess entries using the following criteria:

    • Image quality – clarity, lighting, and technical standard of the photograph;

    • Composition – framing, focus, and visual balance;

    • Originality – creativity and uniqueness of the entry;

    • Relevance to category – how well the image and entry reflect the selected category;

    • Supporting statement – anecdotes that demonstrate commendable traits or behaviours, and alignment with the selected category.

    Each entry will be scored independently by the judges. The top five scoring entries per category will progress to a public vote.
  12. The Promoter reserves the right to moderate, reject, or remove entries that are incomplete, offensive, irrelevant, contain unlawful content, or are deemed not in the spirit of the Competition.
  13. The public vote for the Competition shall open at 00:01 on 24/09/2025 and shall close at 23:59 on 16/10/2025. The entry with the highest number of votes in each category shall be named the winner of that category. Of these category winners, the one with the most votes overall will also be named the overall winner of the BBC Countryfile Magazine Dog of the Year 2025. The overall winner may therefore also be the winner of their respective category.
  14. The Promoter reserves the right to disqualify votes deemed to be fraudulent, automated, or unfairly obtained (including through use of bots, scripts, or bulk voting services). Measures may be taken to check the legitimacy of votes received.
  15. The winners will be publicly announced on advertorial.ourmedia.co.uk/doty2025 on 20/10/2025 and in the December 2025 issue of BBC Countryfile Magazine on sale from 27/11/2025. The Promoter will contact all winners within 10 working days of the public announcement using the contact details provided upon entry. If a winner does not respond within 10 working days of notification, the Promoter reserves the right to offer the prize to a runner-up or to re-offer the prize in a future promotion.
  16. The outcome of the public vote is final and no correspondence relating to the Competition winners will be entered into. The Promoter may share winners’ details with the prize provider, Subaru UK Ltd, solely for the purposes of prize fulfilment.
  17. The prizes: 

    a. The overall winner of BBC Countryfile Magazine Dog of the Year 2025 shall receive a £500 voucher to spend on Rural Retreats – www.ruralretreats.co.uk

    The voucher will be valid for 24 months from the date of issue and will be supplied to the winner by Subaru UK Ltd. Redemption of the voucher is subject to availability and the provider’s booking and cancellation terms found here.

    The winner is responsible for any costs and expenses not expressly included in the prize description, including but not limited to travel, accommodation, insurance, meals, and other personal expenses incurred in connection with redeeming the prize. The winner is also responsible for any personal expenses, VAT, and any national and/or local tax liabilities (if any) incurred in claiming or using the prize. The winner must be over 18 years of age.

    b. The three runner-up category winners of BBC Countryfile Magazine Dog of the Year 2025 shall each receive a £250 voucher to spend at Outdoor and Country — www.outdoorandcountry.co.uk

    The voucher will be valid for 24 months from the date of activation or from the date of the last redemption, refund or top-up (in-store only), and will be supplied to the winners by Subaru UK Ltd. No offers can be applied to the purchase of a gift card. Gift cards can be redeemed online (only at the .co.uk domain), over the phone, or in Outdoor and Country retail stores.
  18. The Promoter may share the details of the winners with the prize provider for the purposes of fulfilling/delivering the prizes.
  19. All prizes will be supplied and delivered by Subaru UK Ltd, who will also cover delivery costs. The Promoter is not responsible for any delay, failure, or dispute relating to the fulfilment of prizes by Subaru UK Ltd.
  20. There is no cash alternative and the prize will not be transferable.  Prizes must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred.  The Promoter reserves the right to substitute the prize with one of the same or greater value.
  21. The surname and county of residence of the winners will be available upon request by sending an SAE to BBC Countryfile Magazine Dog of the Year 2025 competition, Eagle House, Colston Ave, Bristol BS1 4ST within two months of the closing date of the promotion. The Promoter will contact the winners before releasing this information and provide the winners the opportunity to object or limit the amount of information shared.
  22. The Promoter reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions or to cancel, alter or amend the promotion at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, or if circumstances arise outside of its control.
  23. The Promoter does not accept any responsibility for lost, delayed or fraudulent entries.
  24. The Promoter excludes liability to the full extent permitted by law for any loss, damage or injury occurring to the participant arising from his or her entry into the promotion or occurring to the winners arising from his or her acceptance of a prize.
  25. The promotion is subject to the laws of England.