One of the independent vets who assesed the high profile breeds at crufts has issued a statement which can be read on the pedigree dogs exposed blogspot.

I have to say that I cannot disagree with any part of her statement and feel that perhaps she and her colleague were placed in an uneviable posistion .

This has been published by Dog world here's the link for those who would prefer not to give the other site any more traffic than it already gets ;)

http://www.dogworld.co.uk/product.php/67384/1/one_of_crufts_high_profile_check_vets_speaks_out/6e7922cd73007f84ef8b38f5e6cfeed5

I think the mood is changing on that side she doesn't seem to be gaining any new supporters and quite a few in disagreement with her.

While the bulk of her statement seems factual and without undue empahsis the overall tone strikes me as a bit "off" - but that may be because she is feeling hounded.  However, I do feel uncomfortable with her comment "I see nothing wrong in the ethical production of pedigree dogs, except perhaps for the argument that there aren't enough good homes out there for the dogs there are already. " 

And I do not understand how the KC let the arrangements for appointing these vets till the last minute, surely someone should have been in charge of the whole thing - to leave it till February, and to have a field of 3 from which to pick 2 - beyond belief.  I am sure I read somewhere at some pint last year that Steve Dean and the  BVA were appointing hand picked vets to these positions.

Sorry didn't want to advertise any particular site but my copy of dogworld didn't arrive until yesterday and I do dip into the site mentioned simply to see what aspect of showing is currently being critiscised and to try and understand the mindset of it's supporters.
Thankyou for putting up the link as I don't know how to do that.

Also was very dissapointed with the article in the Mail about BIS winner Elizabeth as I feel it's main intention was to demean showdogs and their owners.I really feel sorry for Margaret as she obviously loves her dogs very much and she must be very annoyed by how she was portrayed in this article.

> Also was very dissapointed with the article in the Mail about BIS winner Elizabeth as I feel it's main intention was to demean showdogs and their owners.I really feel sorry for Margaret as she obviously loves her dogs very much and she must be very annoyed by how she was portrayed in this article.

But she obviously said those things :-(  it does nothing for peoples perceptions of the show world but it's not the breeder I feel sorry for - it's the dog!

I really feel sorry for Margaret as she obviously loves her dogs very much and she must be very annoyed by how she was portrayed in this article.

Any breeder, especially one showing at top level, should know that in this day and age, you have to be ultra careful with what you say to the press -in particular as the press always distorts what you DO say. So she'd have been FAR better off saying her dogs are pets that go for long muddy walks like any other pet, rather than tarnishing the entire dog fancy as uncaring trophy hunters -whether she meant to or not. (And I SINCERELY hope most of it wasn't true!!)

I agree Marianne perhaps she should have thought more carefully about what she said but also reporters can be very selective in what they print at times.

> I agree Marianne perhaps she should have thought more carefully about what she said but also reporters can be very selective in what they print at times.

I am in two minds about this article, yes of course reporters can twist and misquote till the cows come home, but my first reaction to the article was Wow, the Mail is not having a go at Pedigree Dogs, no Beverley Cuddy or Jemmima H quotes to validate or trash the interviewee.  I was also amazed that the owner would think it acceptable to sacrifice excercise for a coat!  I then became infuriated at the quotes about how much she thought the bitch was worth, but on further reading I think this bit was certainly stretched out by the reporter, however, we can do without the wrong segment of the public getting the idea that show dogs are worth very large sums - dog thesft is on the increase anyway.

I think the tone of the article was attempting whimisical with a gentle amusement at the owner, but I understand others see it differently.

> I have to say that I cannot disagree with any part of her statement and feel that perhaps she and her colleague were placed in an uneviable posistion

I agree on this and she also states that she has shown in the past, so not against showing and also does breed herself, so what does she gain from failing some of the BOB's? I feel that she needs to be left alone re this witch hunt some people have got going on. She had a job to do, the KC told her what was required and she did this, do you think it would be morally and ethically right if she felt that these dogs weren't suitable for passing and she allowed them through anyway? This is not to you japmum, just thinking out loud.

> Also was very dissapointed with the article in the Mail about BIS winner Elizabeth as I feel it's main intention was to demean showdogs and their owners.I really feel sorry for Margaret as she obviously loves her dogs very much and she must be very annoyed by how she was portrayed in this article.

What was in the Mail? I only read online and can't see anything

Gemma86 it was in Saturday 17th March daily mail article by Julia Lawrence. The headline reads "the most high maintenance blonde in Britain". The bit I'm hoping is wrong is "Elizabeth is very eligible in dog breeding circles. At the ripe old age of seven, the time is now right for her to put show life behind her & settle into motherhood...."

I hope the bit about her now having a first litter at seven years of age was not true !!!

Think I posted at the same time as Wolfistumpi but obviously be both picked up on the same point.

Yes, I read that in DW and was slightly alarmed I must say. It would certainly be a big no in my breed!

The owner actually mentioned this during her TV interview with Claire Balding on Sunday, a first litter age 7, unthinkable for me.

There has been another article which was picked up in part that the owner of Elizabeth, Where she's said that she never gets walked and only runs around the back garden, here is me hoping she has some nice acreage!

I agree comments by the vet seem reasonable.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The owner actually mentioned this during her TV interview with Claire Balding on Sunday, a first litter age 7, unthinkable for me.

And then Joe Public goes and does the same thinking it's ok cos 'top breeders' do it!

This gives more fuel to the likes of JH.  I wonder if people actually think what they say and the implications?

The whole interview plus comments are already on JH's blog.  She is unusually mild in her criticism!

> The whole interview plus comments are already on JH's blog.  She is unusually mild in her criticism!

It's not paragraphs for JHs blog that worries me, it's the poor dog that's apparently never been allowed to run through a muddy puddle or long grass and is kept caged like a gerbil not so she doesn't hurt herself because her owner is worried about her welfare - but because if something happened she may not be able to show her again :-(

I can't helP but thing this interview has been embellished, surely in today's climate no exhibitor would be stupid enough to say things like that.

> I can't helP but thing this interview has been embellished, surely in today's climate no exhibitor would be stupid enough to say things like that.

That was my hope, but then she definitely said the bit about mating the bitch for the first time when interviewed on TV.  Most coated breed show dogs look immaculate in the show ring - but still lead happy, active dog lives at home, they run, they play, they paddle and get dirty, then they get a bath and blow dry to put it all right again!

MIne are always pristine white in the show ring but if you see the colour they get themselves in before even sometimes after I've bathed them they definatly get to do what they Want to I just worry about it the day before a show lol

Same here Boody - normally they are grubby and have fun, then the morning before a show I bath them, and just for that day the pre-wash cycle on the dishwasher is banned, hubby gets an earful if he accidentally mows the lawn, and if it's wet I follow them out to the garden bleating things like 'Ellie, please just wee on the path, you don't need to stomp all over the flowerbed to find the right spot!' :-D

Alison Skipper is just another person who should just get on with her day job. What she says in her article is just a rather garbled load of excuses to try and get certain people of her back. She new EXACTLY what she was getting into and is loving the limelight that has brought her. I am sure if the KC ask her back next year she'll be there again. I have no time for her or the other 'independant' vets.

> I can't helP but thing this interview has been embellished, surely in today's climate no exhibitor would be stupid enough to say things like that.

All true Im afraid.

How sad :-( I hope general public don't tar us all with the same brush. My champion boy has had a great day today at nannies digging in her mud patch he is no longer white for this week lol he can be a honory German spitz instead lol. How wrong to not let a them lead a normal life, dogs come first hobby secOnd. Big sigh

It IS her day job. That is the whole point. She sees dogs every day with various conditions, all breeds, shapes and sizes. She had 7 years training and many years in practice. Like it or not she is well qualified for the job she did at Crufts.

Apart from the impartiality thing! Kind of important really.

Reading the article in it's entirety she comes across as impartial, or even pro dog showing. I think she was put in an impossible position because the vet examination process wasn't thoroughly thought out.