Advertised as the worlds largest dog show, Crufts takes place from 5th to 8th March at the NEC Birmingham UK. The show is presented and hosted by the Kennel Club (UK) and is the show piece of the dog show world, traditionally with extensive TV coverage.
However, its was announced in September 2008 that the RSPCA would be withdrawing it’s support for Crufts and stated it ‘has become increasingly concerned about the health and welfare of pedigree dogs’ and this includes animals entered into ‘best of breed’ classes in dog shows like Crufts.’ The BBC who traditionally covered the event has also announced that there will be no coverage this year.
The show is named after its creator Charles Cruft, who worked for James Spratt, a dog biscuit manufacturer. Crufts job as salesman took him to various parts of Europe and it was whilst in Paris he was invited to organise the canine section of the 1878 Paris exhibition. He staged a show called ‘The First Great Terrier Show’ in 1886 in London. By 1891 the ‘Crufts Greatest Dog Show’ was held and allowed all breeds rather than just Terriers to compete. After Crufts death in 1938 his widow took on the task of holding the annual show but this proved too much for her and she sold the rights to the show to The Kennel Club after 4 years.
The first show hosted by the new owners took place at Olympia, London in 1948, where it remained until 1979 when it moved to Earls Court. The popularity of the show meant that the event increased eventually to 4 days to accommodate all the entries. On the centenary of the show in 1991 it was moved to the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, the first time the show had moved out of the capital.
Over 22,500 dogs have been entered for this years show in various categories. Each day of the 4-day event is designated for particular categories of dogs with Saturday 7th March being solely for gun dogs.