Crufts 2022 THE ‘WAKE -UP ’
ARTICLE, PHOTOS, AND RESULTS: KARL DONVIL
D uring the last European show in Hungary, we were discussing when the last Crufts happened. We were all very confused; some said it was in 2020, others were convinced that it was in 2019. Some counted how many were skipped while others counted in years. The last Crufts happened right after the outbreak of Corona and just before the national governments all over the world went into lockdown. We missed 2021, the year it would have been Cruft’s 130th Anniver- sary. Now, in March 2022, the UK government was one of the first to lift all Corona measurements. It promised to be a strange Crufts again—the “wake-up” of the dog show scene. It was for sure that there would be a serious impact because of Brexit. However, less than two weeks before the show, Russia invaded Ukraine, and suddenly shocked the world once more. The Western World sided with democratically chosen and ruled Ukraine and immediately imposed sanctions on Russia. The FCI and the British Kennel Club imposed a ban on the Russian Ken- nel Federation and all of its activities. Russian judges are no lon- ger allowed to judge abroad, Russian entries are refused, Russian journalists are refused, and more. This was not an easy decision, but like the Olympic Games or other events, it was not against the people of Russia but against the Russian regime. Unfortunately, it created a lot of hate among many Russians who did not understand all this, brainwashed as they were by their totalitarian regime. Bad luck again for Crufts. For the diehards, it was a welcome reunion; hugging friends was allowed again and happy faces were all over, and soon it looked like it was only yesterday since we saw each other. That’s the strength that radiates from Crufts—world-wide-wiedersehen! On the other hand, it was clear what impact Brexit had on the show; not more than five trade stands were non-British! Many corners were empty and because the stands were not rearranged, the spaces where there used to be big foreign stands were clearly visible now, empty! As after many years, most of the trade stands used to have their own specific locations, I could easily tell who was not present. Due to Brexit, the administration to bring in goods and take back the left- overs was too complex, and here you have the result. The very same was visible in the number of foreign exhibi- tors. The 2018 edition had 21,032 entries, the 2020 edition still had 19,909, but now there were only 16,924. The ban of Russian entries was hardly of any influence. In 2018 and 2019, the total
Best in Show: Int. Ch. Almanza Backseat Driver, Retriever (Flat Coated)
Reserve Best in Show: Ch. Afterglow Agent Orange, Poodle (Toy)
54 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2022
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