It's hard to keep up, but it seems that along with Pedigree Dog Food, the RSPCA, Dogs Trust, and the PDSA (the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals, Britain's leading veterinary charity), that Hills Dog Food has decided to pull out of Crufts along with the National Dog Wardens Association.The British Veterinary Association, of course, has called for an independent review of the breeding of dogs, and the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) is forming a working group on the welfare of pedigree dogs as well.
Things are not looking up for the Kennel Club, but word has not yet been forthcoming as to whether the BBC will honor its contract to film Crufts in March, or whether it will pay a fine and simply walk away.
With Pedigree Dogs Exposed getting powerful reviews in Canada, and the show nominated for top documentary awards, it's hard to imagine that the BBC will simply proceed ahead.
Which is not to say that they will necessarily cut and run entirely.
My bet is that they will offer to film Crufts in 2009, but with a very different voice over.
Gone will be the canned puffery, the fake canine histories, and the silly commentary by prattling ninnies who never seem think once about mentioning the declining health of dogs.
Done properly, and with a proper announcer who has done his job and gotten up to speed on all the breeds, a Crufts show could go a long way to changing canine culture around the world by turning the spotlight on the deformed, defective and diseased dogs that are now so common in the show ring.
Not all the breeds are in serious trouble, to be sure, but so many are.
But will the Kennel Club allow a true accounting of what has happened to the dogs?
And will the BBC be flim-flammed and bamboozled into thinking genuine change is afoot, when in fact it may be nothing more than hollow language and pantomime?Time will tell.
Stay tuned!
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5 comments:
Are any of the US counterparts to these companies pulling out of the US equivalent show (Westminster)? Or do they see AKC purebred dogs are in a completely different light than KC dogs?
This is a storm that is moving this way pretty fast, I think.
Australia is already in the mix, and Canada is starting to heat up. The AKC already has a 50% decline in registrations. More on that tomorrow.
But to answer the question: AKC dogs are actually in the same (or worse) position as the UK Kennel Club dogs. Why do I say worse? Simple: Because the UK Kennel Club is at least *starting* to seriously talk about change. Ron Menaker and the AKC's board response is simply that "We need to register more puppy mill dogs."
Patrick
I guess I see Pedigree, Hill's and other companies taking a stand in the UK as a hollow, PC move because they are not taking similar stands in the US. If they honestly believed in not supporting closed registries, bad breeding practices, etc. they would either:
1. Take the same stand in the US and other countries.
or
2. Explain WHY they are not adopting similar positions in other countries.
I think they are worried that in the UK, being associated with Crufts right now may hurt profits. That's it. They don't really care about the dogs. It's just politically expedient for them to appear supportive of reform in the UK right now.
They don't really care about the dogs. It's just politically expedient for them to appear supportive of reform in the UK right now.
Sad, but probably true.
Hill's "Science Diet" is the BIGGEST rip-off in the pet food industry--so you can bet any political move they make is financially oriented....L.B.
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