Posted 21 Dec 2009

A dog named Oscar has enough passport stamps to make even the most intrepid of gap year travellers jealous.

The canine, who was adopted from a kennel by his owner Joanne Lefson five years ago, has so far travelled a total of 29 countries as part of his owner’s efforts to raise awareness about disowned pets.

Costing £250,000 and funded by the sale of Ms Lefson’s home, the trip saw the two visit popular gap year locations – such as South Africa, Peru, Argentina, Brazil and Thailand – along the way.

Dubbed the World Woof Tour, the pair’s travels concluded with a trip to Brazil to see the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Ms Lefson explained: "I wanted to come up with a project that would use Oscar’s perfect package to show the entire world that great dogs […] are available at shelters all over the world."

Last year, another beloved figure – a leprechaun statue named Murphy belonging to Brit Eve Stuart-Kelso – was borrowed by law graduate Simon Reynolds of Gloucester before being taken all over the world on his gap year travels.

Murphy was returned safely seven months later after visiting 12 countries.

Category: General Travel