The Gossip Column: April 28, 2023

Here we are on the eve of the WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB dog show, and the AKC NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP dog show has released its upcoming judging panel for December. Heading the panel is Best in Show judge CLAY COADY. CLAY brings with him a wealth of knowledge and years of experience, as does TERRY STACY, who will judge the Best Bred by Exhibitor competition. CLAY will select his winner from the seven dogs sent to his ring by the Sporting group judge PLUIS DAVERN, Hound Group judge CHARLIE OLVIS, Working Group judge VICKI SEILER CUSHMAN, Terrier Group judge HAROLD “RED” TATRO III, Toy Group judge ROZ KRAMER, Non-Sporting Group judge DAVID KIRKLAND and Herding Group judge CARMEN BATTAGLIA. Other assignments are DESMOND MURPHY judging Miscellaneous classes, Junior preliminaries JASEY O’BRIEN and JENNIE HYNES, and Best Junior ADAM STAFFORD KING. The seven judges for the Bred by Exhibitor groups are Sporting DANA CLINE, Hound DANIEL SMYTH, Working RITA BIDDLE, Terrier KATHY FERRIS, Toy ANDREW BRACE, Non-Sporting ROBIN STANSELL and Herding JON COLE. Three foreign judges — Mexican JOSE LUIS PAYRO; Welshman ANDREW BRACE, who has not graced these shores in several years, and perennial panel member Canadian PAM BRUCE — round out this year’s judges list. ...

Back to more current events: The PURINA® PRO PLAN® SHOW DOGS OF THE YEAR AWARDS DINNER partnered with DOG NEWS takes place on Sunday evening, May 7. Held at GOTHAM HALL, a former turn-of-the-century bank, the venue is a special place in New York history. Banks were made to hold money, not people, so while the venue is second to none, we are limited to the number of guests who can attend. So this year DOG NEWS will livestream the event starting at 7 p.m. so that you can watch the events and the announcement of the award winners in real time. Go to the DOG NEWS website and follow the link. We are excited to bring you this livestreaming and hope you enjoy watching the festivities. ...

For years I have heard of the virtues of New Zealand, the peacefulness and unspoiled beauty, the laidback attitude and even the hobbits. So it was quite alarming that the country encourages children under the age of 14 to kill feral carts and be monetarily rewarded for killing the largest amount. This is part of an effort to eradicate feral cats completely from New Zealand. Not the picture I painted of the country. Certainly there are more humane ways to get rid of feral cats than enlisting children and teaching them it is permissible to kill animals.