FCI Threatens Norwegian KC with Suspension

By Amy Fernandez

Sparring between the Norwegian Kennel Club and FCI continues to escalate since it was announced that the 2019 World Show would take place in Shanghai.

The decision following the June FCI General Assembly meeting met with stunned bafflement from most quarters of the dog world. Growing international outrage coalesced in Scandinavia, resulting in a June 23 letter from the Norwegian Kennel Club (NKK) recommending that Norwegian judges and exhibitors boycott the event.  Rather than squelching the protest, FCI’s widely published July 2 response fanned the flames. Defending the decision, FCI contended that it resulted from a large majority vote in total transparency. Representatives from several member countries quickly challenged that contention on social media. Likewise, FCI’s threat to suspend NKK for two years seems to have incited another wave of insubordination. Rather than backing down, NKK is now calling for a revamp of FCI’s selection process for future WDS locations.

To date, only one World Dog Show has taken place in Asia, the 1982 Tokyo show. Reportedly, 68 member countries had a choice of China, Croatia, Germany, or Spain and much subsequent commentary has implied that General Assembly votes were split between the European countries which gave it to China by default. The China Kennel Union added another element of controversy to the situation by providing VIP gold cards, worth approximately $1500 each, to all 91 FCI delegates to partially cover their travel and attendance costs for the event.

Along with encouraging FCI delegates to donate these cards to Chinese animal welfare groups, NKK is promoting an online petition demanding that FCI relocate the 2019 show to another country.  Ironically and unfortunately, FCI’s announcement about the 2019 show coincided with China’s annual Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which is self-explanatory. That international notoriety has also become a platform to reenergize objections to FCI’s contention that China should be designated as the home country of native Tibetan breeds.

All this is reminiscent of the widespread dissent leading up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Those demonstrations centered on China’s abysmal record of human rights violations. And preparations for the event became an iconic example of this issue as millions of Beijing residents were forcibly displaced and thousands of dogs were slaughtered as part of the government’s Olympic preparations.

Inevitably, social media has gone haywire over this issue, comparing it to recent scandals in the international sports world, primarily the allegations of collusion and bribery within FIFA.

Meanwhile, more countries are publicly siding with NKK and supporting a boycott of the Shanghai show, namely neighboring Finland and Sweden. Closer to FCI’s home base, several Dutch breed clubs have joined the dissenters. Outside FCI, support has also come from Canada.  In a typically equivocal response, the Kennel Club has announced that it won’t attend, saying that it disapproves of long distance shipping for show dogs.

We haven’t seen the end of this controversy. The Canine Chronicle is on it!

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=83956

Posted by chesliepickett on Jul 20 2015. Filed under Featured, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.