No Bulldog or Pekenese will Compete at Crufts

[AdrianneIsabel]

I don't believe this is the final word, I think in time it will come to AKC as well.

[stardogs]

And then I see this on fb this evening - I didnt even know how to respond. o.O

Crufts this year had been un-freakin'-believable...everyone who's involved with the Kennel Club should quit, everyone who's at Crufts should refuse to show up tomorrow and Sunday...just go home. Nothing is worth the embarrassment that the KC is inflicting on these dog owners.

Dogs In Review
A witch hunt at Crufts?
By Allan Reznik, Editor-in-Chief, Dogs in Review

Day One at the venerable Crufts Dog Show ended on a profoundly sad, upsetting note, as the Pekingese and Bulldog, after being declared Best of Breed by knowledgeable, Kennel Club-approved judges, had their awards withheld by "independent" veterinarians. Thus, no Peke and no Bulldog in Group competition.

How was the absence of an English Bulldog explained away to an English television audience, I wonder? The Bulldog has represented the Brits since Winston Churchill's time and before.

This morning began with the news that a third Best of Breed winner, the Clumber Spaniel, had that award withheld.

The Kennel Club is determined to make the point -- in full view of the public -- that it takes soundness in purebred dogs very seriously. Perhaps these gestures are meant to appease the Animal Rights extremists. Ironically, the Kennel Club's actions will probably do no such thing. The AR militants will smugly conclude that they were right all along: purebred show dogs are damaged goods. The KC has finally seen the light.

What a shame that in such a public venue, The Kennel Club has chosen not to support the world-class breeders of Pekingese, Bulldogs and Clumber Spaniels who are committed to producing sound AND beautiful dogs. What an insult to the judges who after careful examination found their Best of Breed winners most worthy. What an insult to the dedicated breeder-exhibitors who brought their best, at considerable personal expense, to an event they considered a showcase for the great dogs of the world.

There are more breeds to be judged at Crufts that appear on The Kennel Club's dreaded "List." Let's see how the Bassets and Bloodhounds fare; the Neapolitan Mastiffs and the Dogues de Bordeaux. Perhaps there will be no more examples made of dogs that are designated Best of Breed by expert judges only to be disqualified by a veterinarian. But the damage has been done. Breeds have been demonized, and world-class breeders and exhibitors have been humiliated.

An old expression comes to mind: "With friends like this, who needs enemies?"

I'd say the breeders/exhibitors brought the embarrassment on themselves by showing dogs that don't meet the health requirements...

[ravennr]

I feel sick at the lack of concern for health by these people.

[release the hounds]

Breed healthy dogs and nobody has a problem. Seems simple enough

[Laurelin]

I really don't get how people complain that the 'fancy' needs to police itself and then they bitch when the KC tries to do something that would head in the right direction.

[ravennr]

They make the rest of us look bad. I hate that they are the ones with the biggest effing mouths.

[AdrianneIsabel]

Cry me a river.

[Lilavati]

Originally Posted by Laurelin

I really don't get how people complain that the 'fancy' needs to police itself and then they bitch when the KC tries to do something that would head in the right direction.

Different people.

The degree of self-delusion in some of these breeders is amazing. One of them was ranting about how the Pekingnese hasn't changed in thousands of years, how they saved the breed from extinction during the Revolution, how dare anyone . . . . (I'd post the article, but I don't remember where I saw it)

Excuse me, ma'am, but:

Modern Pekingese:





The Pekingese that existed for hundreds of years and were smuggled out of China, preserving their bloodlines from being wiped out in civil chaos:

1850's



From 1896, stuffted after this death


From 1900



1904:



I hate to break it to you, lady who is so upset that the Pekingese flunked her health test (I think the person who said it might have been the DQ'd dog's breeder, don't remember). Anyway, I hate to break it to you, but you did not SAVE this breed. Despite preserving the basic bloodlines, you cheerfully proceed to DESTROY this breed.

Mike, after reading the woman's claims and looking at these pictures, described the reasoning of the breeders as "Smoking their own Kool-Aid" which I think pretty much grabs the level of surreal denial involved.

[Kat09Tails]

Word is out that the Mastiff BOB just failed it's vetcheck. Also different vet on duty today.

[Laurelin]

The degree of self-delusion in some of these breeders is amazing. One of them was ranting about how the Pekingnese hasn't changed in thousands of years, how they saved the breed from extinction during the Revolution, how dare anyone . . . . (I'd post the article, but I don't remember where I saw it)

All the show people I know are praising that article.

http://www.bestinshowdaily.com/blog/...-purebred-dog/