ShowSight Interviews Karen Staudt Cartabona, Majenkir Borzoi BY ALLAN REZNIK
1. Where did you
more unlikely people to have become this dog show enthu- siast and dedicated breeder whose involvement has spanned more than half a century. My childhood years were spent poring over library books while I often visited the Bronx Zoo to feed and sketch my favorite animals. I also enjoyed wander- ing through the halls of many museums, and took art lessons at the Pratt Institute. The first dog was purchased soon after my family’s move to Canarsie Brooklyn which was then still rural. He was a neurotic Collie named Shep, purchased for $15. Shep suf- fered from epilepsy and a form of rage syndrome. He would at times follow me about the house snarling at my feet and even bit me. Then he would dive under the bed while my father retaliated by throwing shoes at him. It is amazing that I didn’t develop a fear of dogs from this psychotic canine! In my early teens I applied for a job with Animal Talent Scouts, a model- ing agency for animals based in New York City founded by Lorraine D’Esson. I was considered too young for the job, but saw my first Borzoi there. Two beautiful white males came up and leaned their heads against me. I thought I had never seen anything as beautiful and decided right then I would some- day own a Russian Wolfhound. Years later while showing Tanya, my foundation bitch, at Westminster, Lorraine D’Esson noticed her CD in obedience, unusual for the time, and asked me if I’d be interested in a modeling assignment with her. This led to an interesting sideline career of modeling with my white Borzoi. They became the Wolfschmidt Vodka Bor- zoi and were also featured in many forms of modeling from cigarette ads to fashion shows, fashion magazines, movies and TV commercials. I still receive calls for an occasional
grow up?
I was born in New York and spent my early childhood in a Brooklyn apartment where there were no pets allowed. I kept tropical fish and caged birds and sneaked home various ani- mal misfits: a mouse knocked unconscious by the trash man (I was allowed to keep him), and scruffy alley cats (which I could not
keep). When my family bought a house with a fenced-in yard in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, my collecting of dogs and animals began in earnest. I discovered a circus headquar- ters nearby, Gangler Bros Circus. There I had hands-on time with ponies, trick dogs and other animals. I learned to ride on mean, because of being mistreated through training, ponies. I fell off quite often as they ran me under branches and into fences. In spite of this I was living a dream come true. 2. Do you come from a doggie family? If not how did the interest in breeding and showing begin? No, my obsessive love for animals was limited to me. While my family were animal lovers, no one had anything more than an occasional pet dog. Without a doubt, I am one of the
122 • S how S ight M agazine , N ovember 2018
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