The BBC has made it official: they are pulling out of Crufts.
Rather than tarnish their own image by continuing their association with The Kennel Club's long-term embrace of exagerated and deformed dogs bred in a closed-registry system that almost guarantees rising levels of inbreeding, the BBC has decided to simply walk away from Crufts, the worlds largest dog show.
Bravo! Hats off to true leadership. In an era of rudderless morals, the BBC has stood up and done the right thing.
And they are not alone.
Following the airing of the powerful documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed, other Crufts sponsors have followed suit:
- Pedigree dog food pulled out of Crufts after 44 years, taking with them over $2.2 million a year in Kennel Club support.
- The RSPCA pulled out of Crufts and called for "new measures to tackle the unacceptably high levels of disability, deformity and disease that threaten pedigree dogs."
- The UK's top Veterinary Charity pulled out of Crufts events over 'unacceptable' breeding practices and health issues affecting some pedigree dog breeds.
- Dogs Trust, the largest dog welfare charity in the UK formerly announced it was withdrawing from Crufts and Discover Dogs and will also not be involved in this year’s Westminster Dog of the Year Show.
- The Australian National Kennel Club announced it would be reviewing all their breed standards in order to reduce exageration and deformity "to reflect a new policy prioritizing the health and welfare of all dogs."
Now the way is wide open for the Kennel Club to show that the first steps they have taken down the road to reform are genuine and will be followed through. Having seen some movement in recent months, I have high hopes.
That said, the Kennel Club has only seen the light because they have felt the heat.
Now the Kennel Club's leadership can point to the collapse of corporate sponsorship as one reason they need to lay the law down to some of the more obsteperous breeds clubs (such as Cavalier King Charles Spaniel club), even as they play "catch up" to the demands of some of the more progressive clubs that are genuinely concerned about the welfare of dogs (the United German Sheperd Dogs clubs).
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That said, the Kennel Club has only seen the light because they have felt the heat.
Now the Kennel Club's leadership can point to the collapse of corporate sponsorship as one reason they need to lay the law down to some of the more obsteperous breeds clubs (such as Cavalier King Charles Spaniel club), even as they play "catch up" to the demands of some of the more progressive clubs that are genuinely concerned about the welfare of dogs (the United German Sheperd Dogs clubs).
Want to read more? Check out these links:
Yahoo!
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