Crufts and the BBC and the wrong email!

Ryan O'Meara has very kindly let me know about the part two to the recent blog where the Beeb looked to be going a bit wibbly wobbly about whether it was to continue its positive uncritical coverage of Crufts post-Pedigree Dogs Exposed.

"The BBC’s Keith Jones, head of communication and complaints, tells us:

I must apologise that a mistake made in our complaints handling system meant that you (and one other person) were sent an explanation of why the BBC shows Crufts.

This was our reply to viewers who had contacted us telling us they generally felt that the event was cruel and pre-dates the transmission of ‘Pedigree Dogs Exposed’.

Following the broadcast of ‘Pedigree Dogs Exposed’ we are in discussions with the Kennel Club about our coverage of Crufts and this has been our reply to others who also contacted us following the transmission of the programme.

So I would be grateful if, on your blog, and its comments, you would now correct the wrong impressions which have arisen following our error.

We have ensured this should not happen again and I hope this now makes the BBC’s position clear."

So deep breath - everything seems to be okay!

I'm going to highlight another petition...

Encourage the BBC to stop televising Crufts

and don't forget our one...

Were you moved by Pedigree Dogs Exposed?
(the distressing documentary about the health of dogs shown on BBC1 in August?)

You may have heard that the RSPCA and Dogs Trust have since pulled out of Crufts in an attempt to encourage the Kennel Club to reform. If you would like to send a clear message to both the Kennel Club and to Government that change is urgently needed to stop future dogs from suffering then please sign this e-petition on the official 10 Downing Street site. The latest letters sent out from DEFRA suggest they haven't yet heard from enough of the general public to make this issue significant. Please do all you can to change their perspective!

Here's the petition wording:

Following the powerful Pedigree Dogs Exposed documentary on
BBC1 the Kennel Club still seems reluctant to grasp the nettle,
face the problems and reform itself. The program revealed it
urgently needs to bring in mandatory minimum standards on
levels of inbreeding, make health testing mandatory, prevent
unhealthy physical exaggerations being rewarded and stop the
culling of healthy non-standard pups by changing breed
standards. The KC continually complains that it lacks the
backing of legislation to bring in these urgent and much needed
reforms, so we the undersigned urge the Prime Minister please
instigate legislation to ensure pedigree dogs are saved from
unnecessary future suffering.

If you would like to add your name to this petition please go to this link:
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ReformtheKC/

If you'd like to know more about the issues raised by the TV programme, follow the petitioner's blog for all the latest developments http://coldwetnose.blogspot.com/
For example, did you know that the Cavalier Club are holding a Special General Meeting to expel one of their members from the health committee. Had they chosen to expel the woman who knowingly bred 20 plus litters from a dog affected by syringomyelia - the disease that was so memorably described on TV as "like a having a brain like a size 10 foot stuffed into a size 6 shoe," we'd all be very happy - but still no action has been taken against that breeder who used the affected dog at stud twice more after the documentary makers confronted her on camera! But no, astonishingly, the club instead plan to expel Margaret Carter, the brave lady who revealed on camera that this dog had been diagnosed with SM and that the owner had been advised not to breed from him. The meeting will be held at Yew Lodge Hotel, Kegworth, 12 noon Sunday 5th October.
Address: Packington Hill, Kegworth, Derbyshire, DE74 2DF
Telephone: (01509) 672518
Fax: (01509) 674730