Peter Wedderburn Weighs in on Crufts

Peter Wedderburn weighs in:

The pedigree dog show world has been stunned by landmark decisions made at Crufts this year: six dogs that had been chosen as best of their breeds (Bulldog, Pekingese, Clumber Spaniel, Mastiff, Neopolitan Mastiff and Basset Hound) failed the new veterinary health check. As a consequence, the prize-winning pooches were banned from proceeding to the Best in Group judging....

Up until now, some people may have felt that this health check was going to be lip service to the critics by the Kennel Club. The decisions at Crufts this past weekend confirm that the Kennel Club is serious about enforcing its stated ideals of “celebrating happy healthy dogs”.

The inspecting veterinary surgeon specifically assessed four areas of concern on the health front: eye disease, respiratory problems, skin disease and mobility issues. The specific grounds for failure of the disqualified dogs have not yet been announced but the bottom line was that an independent vet decided that their appearance was inconsistent with full, normal health.

Ironically, the Bulldog that was judged to be second-best-of-breed was the pre-booked guest on the More-4 Crufts television discussion on Thursday evening. The reason for her tv appearance: she's an example of the “new, healthy” type of Bulldog, with a longer nose and less congested breathing. There's an obvious question: if she had pipped the winning dog at the post for “Best of Breed”, would she too have failed the health test? Is the Bulldog, as a breed, capable of passing health tests?

I don't know much about the winning Pekingese which was then disqualified, but I do know that when a Pekingese called Malachy won Best of Show at the prestigious Westminster Dog Show in the USA last month, he had to sit on a special cooling mat to prevent dangerous overheating when he was displayed to the media. It's this type of madness that the Kennel Club is trying to stamp out.

Read the whole thing!.

So what dogs won Crufts?  None other than the absurd-looking, fit-for-nothing dog called the Lhasa Apso.