Vet Checks For High Profile Breeds At Crufts 2012 And Championship Shows Thereafter
06-Jan-112011-01-06
The Kennel Club has announced that all dogs of the fifteen high profile breeds which win Best of Breed at Crufts 2012
and at General and Group Championship Shows after that, will need to be
given a clean bill of health by the show veterinary surgeon before
their Best of Breed awards are confirmed and before they are allowed to
continue to compete at the show. This requirement is designed to improve
canine health and protect the sport of dog showing.
The move, which will become effective from March 2012, was taken by the
General Committee on the advice of the Kennel Club Dog Health Group, in
order to ensure that the fifteen high profile breeds, some of which
suffer from health issues and which attract the greatest criticism, do
not bring the whole hobby of dog showing into disrepute.
In addition, before the Champion title of any dog or bitch within these
breeds can be confirmed, that dog will have to undergo a successful
veterinary examination at a Group or General Championship Show.
Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “There are 195 breeds
whose participation in the hobby of dog showing is overshadowed by the
small minority of people within some high profile breeds who seem to
continue to breed, and occasionally reward, unhealthy dogs and who by so
doing are bringing down the reputation of the hobby and the rest of the
dog showing fraternity.
“The Kennel Club must ensure, for the future prospects of dog showing
and for the good of dogs, that only healthy dogs go home from dog shows
with prizes.
“This action will not only protect the reputation of the majority of
dog showing people who put the health and welfare of their dogs first
and foremost, but it will also continue to encourage improvement within
the high profile breeds themselves, ensuring that the healthiest are
justly held up as an example for others to follow.”
The changes, which will become active from 2012, come after measures
were put in place in 2009 to try to ensure that only healthy dogs are
rewarded in the show ring. Judges now have the power to remove dogs
that look unhealthy from competition and show monitors can also ask show
veterinary surgeons to determine whether a dog is healthy enough to
continue competing. These existing requirements will continue to be in
place at dfs Crufts 2011.
Ronnie Irving, Kennel Club Chairman, said: “The majority of people
involved in showing dogs, including the 15 high profile breeds, are
doing a good job in moving their breed forward and many judges are
ensuring that health is paramount when they judge. This work should be
applauded and recognised.
“Sadly though, a few judges in some breeds simply can’t or won’t accept
the need to eliminate from top awards, dogs which are visibly
unhealthy. Neither we who show dogs, nor the Kennel Club which must
protect our hobby, can reasonably allow that state of affairs to
continue. I hope also that monitoring the results of this exercise may
even, in time, enable us to drop from the ‘high profile’ list some of
those breeds which prove to have a clean bill of health.
“This move, along with the other health measures that we have put in
place will help the Kennel Club to ensure that the show ring is, as
Professor Patrick Bateson said it can be: a positive lever for change in
the world of dogs.”
Professor Steve Dean, Crufts Committee member and Senior Veterinary
Surgeon, and a member of the Kennel Club General Committee, said of the
new requirements: “The guidance which we will issue to Show Vets will
focus on clinical signs associated with pain or discomfort which will
come under the main headings of external eye disease, lameness, skin
disorders and breathing difficulty. The show veterinary surgeons will be
looking for signs such as ectropion, entropion, corneal damage,
dermatitis, breathing difficulty on moderate exercise, and lameness.
The fifteenth breed is the Chinese Crested where the principal issue
will be the presence of skin damage arising from hair removal and thus
signs of clipper rash or chemical insults to the skin will be looked
for.
"It is not intended for the vet to act in any way as a show judge of
conformation. Veterinary opinion will only lead to disqualification of a
dog from further competition where there is clinical evidence of
disease. Perhaps the only arguable exceptions are ectropion and
entropion as both are conformatory defects of the eyelid, but both
conditions are closely associated with chronic conjunctival inflammation
or corneal damage and thus they will be disqualifying signs in their
own right.
"By giving dog exhibitors and judges 12 months notice of the intent to
have a veterinary surgeon examine the Best of Breed from each of the
high profile breeds, we hope that judges will ensure that only healthy
exhibits will come forward. Therefore the number of times dogs are
excluded from the Group following veterinary examination should be
minimal. For some of the breeds this will still be a huge challenge but
the intent is to improve the overall health and welfare of dogs and if
this measure helps achieve this then it has to be a step in the right
direction."
The Kennel Club confirmed that the detailed regulations to give effect
to these new moves are currently being developed and will be published
in due course.
Bron:
http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/3494/23/5/3
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