Why I’m Still Talking About Crufts

If you’d rather watch than read, follow this link for the video: Crufts Follow-Up Video.

A year ago, I made my first video about Crufts. It was my first time going, and I came away feeling pretty raw about what I had seen. Some of the handling upset me, and what stuck with me most was not just the behaviour itself, but how normalised it seemed to be around me.

Since then, I’ve had a lot of comments on that video. Some were really supportive. I even had a genuinely encouraging conversation with a Best of Breed winner who made the point that she prides herself on showing and winning without tension in the lead and without the sort of handling I found so difficult to watch. That mattered, because I want to be really clear: I am not saying everyone at Crufts is the problem. There are handlers, trainers, and owners there who are exactly the example we should want to see.

A lot of comments also said I should have reported what I saw. Looking back, maybe I should have made more effort to find the right people and raise it there and then. But what has happened since is part of why I’m making this follow-up.

Victoria Stilwell has now also spoken publicly about what she and her team saw, and why she no longer feels able to support Crufts unless there are extensive welfare changes.  That doesn’t make me happy. It doesn’t make me feel vindicated in some smug way. But it does make me feel that what I saw was not imagined, exaggerated, or just me being overly emotional after a bad day.

What upset me then, and still upsets me now, is the gap between the image and the reality. If Crufts and The Kennel Club around it, wants to be seen as the gold standard, then welfare has to be the gold standard too. Not just in the ring. Not just for the cameras. From the moment a dog arrives on site to the moment it leaves.

That’s why I don’t think this should just be left as a passing controversy. I think people who genuinely care about dogs, training, welfare, and handling should get behind Victoria Stilwell’s continued campaign to hold The Kennel Club to account. Her statement has helped put a brighter spotlight on the issue, but pressure from the wider dog world matters too.

This is not me telling everyone to boycott Crufts. I’ve said that before and I’ll say it again. There are good people there. There are people doing things properly. But if the event is going to represent the best of the dog world, then it has to be willing to deal with the worst of what it still allows to happen around it.

And that means scrutiny. It means accountability. It means not just celebrating the winners, but being prepared to confront the standards behind the scenes too.

If you want to watch the video and join the conversation, you can do that here: Crufts Follow-Up Video