THROUGHOUT the month of December, the South Wales Guardian asked for readers to send in pictures of their pets dressed in their festive fancy dress.

The winner of this years Christmas pet competition is Merlin, a deer hound cross saluki cross whippet, from Pontamman.

Merlin, who is known amongst his family as Captain Chaos, is 15 months old and enjoys mucking out with his owners Phil and Heather at their farm in Trap and sleeping during the afternoon.

Heather said: “We didn’t expect to win the competition. Merlin is so loving but is always up to mischief.

The prize for Merlin and his family was a gift voucher to be spent on pet necessities in Wilko.