Patty Hearst's Pooch Wins Top Dog Award

Patty Hearst, the granddaughter of media magnate William Randolph Hearst and the victim of a kidnapping in 1974, has won a prize at the Westminster Kennel Club show.

Rocket the Shih Tzu, who belongs to a group of three, won top toy dog at the all-breed show for more than 2,700 dogs in New York City.

The 61-year-old heiress has been involved in the dog show world for more than 10 years and is looking forward to Rocket being one of seven in the championship ring on Tuesday night when best in show is picked.

Ms Hearst gained notoriety in 1974 when she was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army, a left-wing US "revolutionary" and violent group.

She announced by audiotape that she had joined the group and was photographed during captivity, holding a semi-automatic rifle while robbing a bank in California.

She was captured and claimed she had been drugged and brainwashed to take part in the robbery.

It was subsequently considered that she was a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, when a hostage over-identifies with his or her captors.

She was sentenced to seven years in jail but spent 21 months there until her sentence was commuted by President Jimmy Carter.

President Bill Clinton gave her a full pardon.

"People move on," Ms Hearst said, as she talked about her dog.

"I guess people somehow imagine you don't evolve in your life. I have grown daughters and granddaughters and other things that normal people have."

She also has appeared in films including Cry-Baby and Serial Mom.