Not sure why the show dog world's BFF, Jemima Harrison, felt she had to go ''incognito'' to Crufts this year, other than it sounds sooo much more fabulous! Sorry to crush any delusions of grandeur, but I seriously doubt anyone would recognize her. I also cannot comprehend why she feels the need to attack Britain's most famous show, show dogs, and show breeders at every opportunity. In her recent piece in the Times, she describes the event in typical upbeat fashion:
''It’s not the gamey whiff of the Irish terrier strung up on a table, groomed to millimetre perfection. It’s not the acrid aroma from the splashes of urine pooling by the rows of benches where hundreds of bored-looking dogs doze, waiting their turn in the ring. It’s the stench of continuing denial in the face of overwhelming evidence that there is something terribly wrong with our pedigree dogs. ''
I wonder if that description is in line with what the scores of excited children and families experienced while exploring the halls of the NEC? Judging by the smiles, laughter and curiosity I saw in their faces I suspect it was a much more pleasant and enjoyable day out for them. Jemima's scene sounds utterly depressing. Talk about the glass being half empty.
She suggests that a class-winning Peke is unable to walk more than a few paces outside the crowded ring because it is physically unable, instead of the more logical assumption that it is a typically stubborn Peke...but just as was the case in PDE, why let the truth stand in the way of a good story. I think Jemima longs for a world where a flock of Pekes scampers ''20 miles a day on Salisbury Plain,'' and while that scenario sounds super cute, it is unlikely and quite frankly unnecessary.
The ''more moderate Bulldog'' that Jemima refers to as the breed winner, suggesting that his win was a nod to the newly revised standard, is actually the top winning Bulldog of the previous year. Even before PDE, this particular dog was winning in a big way.
I am perplexed at WHY Ms Harrison continues to attack and alienate all of us who show dogs. If comparing us to Nazis is her way of getting us on board she needs to rethink her approach. She still fails to acknowledge that the majority of show breeders...not pet shop suppliers, puppy dealers, and pet breeders... are actively using health testing methods of different varieties and constantly trying to improve our dogs by importing stock from around the world. If she was simply championing for the KC to make changes, and not trying to discredit the hard work and progress made by the breeders of show dogs, then maybe she could come to Crufts without the mask on.
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Jemima, in my humble opinion (and I am a stupid, cruel, good-for-nothing dog person), is fast realising she is losing popularity by the minute.
ReplyDeleteIf she thought that her empty footsteps would echo around the NEC last weekend, then she must have been one very disappointed woman.
OK, so some dog folk allegedly 'talked to her'.
For God's sake, these people were either exhibiting or watching at the show, so how bothered are they. They certainly weren't 'voting with their feet'.
Come on, let's get real, Jemima's own history with the Flatcoat litter is FAR more interesting than a what a few disgruntled people may have had to say at a dog show....
It's not because you test your dogs, that they're not inbred offcourse.
ReplyDeleteIt must be difficult, to find out that the hart off the way dogs are bred, is totally wrong.
I read Jemima's article with interest. Surely someone who had the courage of her convictions would not have felt the need to go to Crufts "incognito"? Going undercover would be more the required action of someone who knew that they had sold the dog world short and was ashamed to admit to their identity?
ReplyDeleteMaybe she intends to go to "Scrufts" with her head held high and donning a name badge? Or.... more realistically... a meeting of PETA?
Jemina had to go incognito. Some breeders are so fanatic, that they can become dangerous. You can tell by the reactions on different fora. Breeders of showdogs seem to forget the 2j study was made by scientists. It wasn't an individual action by a PETAmember...
ReplyDeleteFilip... perhaps you could provide some evidence of where a UK breeder has harmed a journalist in the past??
ReplyDeleteYour nick is already clear about going incognito or not... :-)
ReplyDeletequote: "The whippet breeder is outraged. “All this talk of health is spoiling our fun,” she complained. “Really, I could kill that Jemima Harrison.” end quote
And I said can become. ;-)But that's not the issue. Why do showbreeders think that the docu is against the pedigree dog, or its breeders? It's about getting a healthy dog in your home.
Er no. The documentary was about being as scandalous as it possibly could be. Scandal = publicity for Jemima's crappy little company (which may now become a crappy big company!!)
ReplyDeleteYou will find bad apples in any walk of life. It was wrong of the documentary to insinuate that the whole of the dog world was flawed.
I said this morning (having seen the state of his bedroom) that I could kill my son.... best buy him a false moustache!
Testing has not reduced the incidence of HD in Shepherds or MVD in Cavaliers, yes there are some wonderful breeders out there and I agree would not deliberately produce unhealthy dogs.
ReplyDeleteHowever as a seving committee member I am aware of the woeful lack of understanding of genetics and the way a small group with a loud voice can so easily stop any thoughts of change in its tracks.
So as very successful breeders please give me your opinions on the study by Imperial College that showed the frightening lack of genetic diversity in the breeds studied along with the equally frightening rate at which genetic variation is being eroded.
Simple recessives have been taken on board and are pretty well understood by all, sadly if only these were the only genes and genetic influence we need to concern ourselves with, there are of course many other ways that the lack of genetic variation can affect the health of all breeds.
I agree the article in the Times was not factual enough to be taken too seriously but the fact that banning of close matings by the KC was simply a PR exercise does not give me as a breeder much hope for future progress
As it was a direct quote i have no reason to doubt this, jemima may be some things, stupid is not one of them
anonymus: The chairman said that grandson-granddaughter breeding is ok, that brother-sistermatings are ok, depending on the individual dog. The president of the ridgeback club said that pups without a ridge should be killed; the breeder of the cavalier said it was ok to breed with her doggie; the judge said that the Bassset was sound etc. It wasn't Jemina who said all that. It's easy to pick out a black sheep off course...
ReplyDeleteAgain, the scientists say things have to change, not the bbc.