The Kennel Club Takes Another Hit

The poor Kennel Club! They spent a fortune hiring high-priced lawyers to draw up a lengthy complaint to Ofcom following the showing of BBC's Pedigree Dogs Exposed, and now Ofcom has rejected every single substantive point in their complaint,

Eh?

What the hell is Ofcom?

Think of it as a kind of giant nanny-state proctor where anyone can complain to Government that a news show, a documentary, or even a soap opera or sitcom is "unfair" or somehow offends their delicate sensibilities. If Ofcom had been around during WWII, one wonders whether Hitler would have gotten equal time during the Blitz.

After Pedigree Dogs Exposed was shown in the U.K., the Kennel Club and half a dozen show dog types filed a series of complaints with Ofcom.

Now, all of those complaints but one have been tossed out, and the one complaint is not substantive, but procedural; it seems Ofcom thinks the Kennel Club should have gotten more of a chance to respond on two points.

Oh the Poor Dears! The Kennel Club's feelings have been hurt!

As the BBC notes:

Media regulator Ofcom has ruled that a BBC documentary, which exposed health problems in pedigree dogs, showed no "unfairness" to The Kennel Club.

Last year the club lodged a complaint about the programme saying it had been treated unfairly.

Ofcom said the Kennel Club "was not deceived about the purpose of the programme" and the editing was fair.

In Broadcast Now, Pedigree Dogs Exposed producer Jemima Harrison was interviewed following the release of the Ofcom report, and she notes that:

"Ofcom ruled on points of order rather than anything else. No one is challenging the core findings in any way. You only have to look at the changes the Kennel Club has made to know it was absolutely on the money. I’m really, really proud.”

As well she should be!

In the last 100 years, no one has done more to illuminate the sorry genetic mess that dog shows have dropped on our door step.

The good news, of course, is that the heat generated by Pedigree Dogs Exposed has also created more than a little light.

Consider this quick run down of what has happened since the documentary was first shown:

• The Kennel Club will no longer register the incestuous progeny of father-daughter, mother-son or and brother-sister matings.
  
  
• The Kennel Club has made changes to 78 breed standards in order to discourage or reverse show ring exaggerations. In addition, the Kennel Club has added the following clause to every breed standard:

  "A Breed Standard is the guideline which describes the ideal characteristics, temperament and appearance of a breed and ensures that the breed is fit for function. Absolute soundness is essential. Breeders and judges should at all times be careful to avoid obvious conditions or exaggerations which would be detrimental in any way to the health, welfare or soundness of this breed. From time to time certain conditions or exaggerations may be considered to have the potential to affect dogs in some breeds adversely, and judges and breeders are requested to refer to the Kennel Club website for details of any such current issues. If a feature or quality is desirable it should only be present in the right measure."

  
  
• The Kennel Club has commissioned an independent enquiry into dog-breeding, headed by Sir Patrick Bateson. The report, due out in January, is expected to recommend steps to increase genetic diversity in many breeds.
  
  
• Two independent reports have come to the same broad conclusions as Pedigree Dogs Exposed, noting that there are serious health problems in the world of dogs, and that these problems need to be addressed quickly.
  
  
• The Kennel Club is starting to improve training for judges including adding a requirement that judges of gundog breeds must attend field trials before being allowed to judge Champion-level shows.
  
  
• The Kennel Club has said it will not award Challenge Certificates to German Shepherds, beginning in 2012, unless breeders can provide clear evidence that conformation problems in that breed are being tackled.
  
  
• The KC has promised breed health plans for every breed, and that these plans will include an assessment of the genetic diversity within every breed.

For those who want to read the whole Ofcom report, here's a link to it.

Suffice it to say that the Kennel Club does not link to it.

Nor are they ever going to cop to how many hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees they paid to get this disastrous outcome.

The poor things!
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