Breaking: Wheelchair User Peacefully Protesting Crufts Brutally Attacked by Security
This evening, two PETA supporters, one of whom is disabled and in a wheelchair, peacefully protesting the “Best in Show” at Crufts, the world’s largest “pedigree” dog show, were violently assaulted by security staff. One of the animal allies holding a sign reading, “🖤 Dogs? Boycott Breeders,” was tipped out of his wheelchair, and the other was repeatedly punched before being dragged off the premises.
69-year-old Crufts crasher Robert Groves, who became paralysed 19 years ago and has raised £150,000 for animal welfare through sport, spoke out about the event:
“As a wheelchair user, I especially object to its glamourisation of animals with disabilities. Whether they’re Breathing Impaired Breeds (BIB) like bulldogs and pugs, suffocating behind unnaturally flat faces, or dachshunds and corgis whose too-short legs cause lifelong back and knee pain, these “frankendogs” are engineered for human aesthetics, not the animals’ quality of life.”
– Robert Groves
Glorification of Grotesque Standards
Crufts is a celebration of everything that’s wrong with dog breeding. The grotesque ‘breed standards’ of The Kennel Club, which organises the event, encourage the breeding of dogs with extreme features that cause long-term physical disabilities and health problems, including epilepsy, brachycephalic syndrome, heart disease, deafness, hip dysplasia, and numerous other afflictions.
An Archaic, Outdated Event
The BBC dropped Crufts in 2008 after revelations emerged about the prevalence of hereditary defects among pedigree dogs, including Crufts prize winners. A group of veterinary professionals have also spoken out against Crufts, noting that the “arbitrary breed standards that the competition’s judges use to rate the dogs call for them to be bred for extremely exaggerated physical features, regardless of the damage to their health. As a result, dogs are suffering.”
Adopt Dogs, Never Shop
In addition to promoting these grotesque standards, Crufts exacerbates the homeless dog overpopulation crisis by encouraging people to buy the latest “must-have” breed. Meanwhile, rescue centres – which take in an estimated 130,000 dogs annually – burst at the seams with animals waiting to be adopted.
If you are able and willing to welcome a canine companion into your home, adopt a lovable, loyal individual from your local shelter, please do not buy.
What You Can Do
The RSPCA refuses to attend this grotesque event, and the BBC no longer airs it. In addition to supporting PETA’s #AdoptDontShop campaign, you can take action for dogs by urging Channel 4 to stop airing the show:
