IT WAS a sight more associated with a freezing arctic wasteland than a scorching summer’s day in Oxford.

Twenty husky dogs met up at Shotover Country Park for a mass-walkabout yesterday, gaining plenty of surprised looks from other dog-walkers.

Husky owner Andy Rickard, 48, from Greater Leys, organised the trip through online forum husky-owners.com after hearing about similar events elsewhere in the country.

Mr Rickard said: “It was a magnificent sight. People are shocked at first because they think they look like wolves, but when they come over huskies are very friendly.”

He added: “They are very good-looking dogs, but they’re a very difficult breed. They need an awful lot of exercise, about six miles every day. If they don’t get that, they can become destructive and start eating your furniture.”

He said the huskies’ insulating double coats, which make them perfect for towing sleds at the North Pole, also keep them cool in the summer.