The Ethics Of Dog Show Judging – Beyond Conflicts Of Interest

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74 – October, 2023

By Wayne Cavanaugh

A few months ago, I was asked to speak at a conference held jointly by the Canadian Kennel Club and the Canadian Dog Show Judges Association. The topic was “Ethics in Dog Show Judging”. The first thing I did was ask myself if it was ethical to talk about ethics without having an advanced degree in ethics. Was it in my scope of competence? I passed a few entry-level college courses in ethics many years ago, but that clearly does not make me an expert.

I knew I was not, by any definition, an expert but I do have a passion for the sport and a passion for learning. This was an opportunity to think and learn about how best to approach the topic. So, when they asked again, I accepted, then I went to work to try to learn enough about how to see the bigger ethics picture. Surely ethics is more than just avoiding conflicts of interest and obvious injustices. But if so, why, and how does it affect judging? How is incompetency complicit in unethical judging?

We should all read and understand the ethics section in the AKC Rules, Policies and Guidelines for Conformation Dog Show Judges. It is quite good and has been expanded and updated over the years as new situations arise. But to earn the respect of the sport and our peers, we’ll need to go beyond the printed words. If it’s not an offense in the book, it’s not a conflict of interest. Easy enough. So, if we avoid the described conflicts of interest, we’re ethical judges, right? No, but it’s a good start. The larger picture for ethics in judging goes far beyond the rules.

I thought back to an experience I had as a college student working weekends at a very nice Italian restaurant at the Jersey shore. One night, I had a decision to make regarding serving alcohol. We were unlikely to get in trouble for doing so back in that particular environment and time but I wanted to do the right thing. I asked the owner if I should proof a table of diners who looked to me to be right on the birthday cusp. He said one line and walked away: “your question is your answer.” I thought about if for a minute and realized he was right.

Click here to read the complete article
74 – October, 2023

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Posted by AnthonyA on Oct 8 2023. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.