From The Publisher
Click here to read the complete article
By the time you read these words, another Morris & Essex Kennel Club show will be in the books. This year’s entry topped 4,100 dogs; a significant increase over the 3,000+ dogs entered in 2005. This quinquennial show has become the hottest ticket in dogs over the past 15 years for many reasons.
First, it’s unique. Since it only occurs every 5 years, it’s an event everyone in the sport looks to with anticipation. The timing makes it special and the winner takes a special place in the annals of the sport of purebred dogs.
Next, the members of this club, and there are many, pour their blood, sweat and tears into this show. This effort makes it special. Attention to detail is a mantra that carries through every aspect of Morris & Essex. The tents, the flowers, the boxed lunches, the classic cars, and the grounds themselves are indicative of the effort put forth by the volunteers of M&E. This makes it different from the run-of-the-mill dog shows. It also makes it stand out from many of the finest shows across the country.
Finally, Morris & Essex Kennel Club makes us all yearn for days gone by; days most of us never experienced. The few older fanciers that are left, those above the age of 80, who were fortunate enough to attend M&E in the ‘40s or ‘50s tell stories about the grandeur of this event. They say that was the golden age of dogdom, and they were right.
During the first half of the 20th century, most major publications covered some aspect of purebred dog competition. Field & Stream covered field trials, The New York Times, Town & Country, and the like covered dog shows and the monied celebrities who inhabited our sport. Sports Illustrated dedicated covers to famous show dogs and Westminster winners. And everyone, I mean everyone, had a favorite breed of dog.
Fast-forward to today, where a good portion of the media covers cross-bred pocket pets and their equally pedigreed owners, all the while bashing purebred dog breeders and owners and portraying them as polluters of animal shelters and uncaring about dogs.
It’s amazing how things have changed in 50 years. Will we ever see the halcyon days of the past where purebred dogs were celebrated on mainstream magazine covers and cereal boxes? Probably not, but all is not lost. I see incremental changes in our culture that may lead to a rise in the demand for purebred dogs. I see more and more purebreds on tv and in the media. I see less coverage of PETA and HSUS (much of this due to scandalous behavior).
We may never see the days of the 1950s Morris & Essex but all is not lost.
Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=90616
Posted by ralbee
on Oct 13 2015. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Comments are closed
