Круфтс: Халықаралық иттің көрмесі

International canine event held annually in the UK

Crufts is an international dog show held annually in the United Kingdom, held since 1891, and organised by The Kennel Club. It is the largest show of its kind in the world. Crufts is primarily a championship conformation show for dogs, and includes a large trade show of mainly dog related goods and services, as well as competitions in dog agility, obedience, flyball and heelwork to music. Winner of the annual Friends for Life competition which celebrates unsung canine heroes is also announced, and Crufts also hosts the final of Scruffts, a crossbreed competition. It is held over four days (Thursday to Sunday) in early March at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Solihull, England. Crufts comprises a number of separate competitions. The main competition is for the Best in Show award, which is hotly contested by dogs and their owners from throughout the world. The Kennel Club was criticised on the BBC programme Pedigree Dogs Exposed for allowing breed standards, judging standards and breeding practices which are said to compromise the health of purebred dogs. The programme led various sponsors to withdraw. The BBC dropped Crufts 2009 from their coverage after being unable to agree to terms with The Kennel Club, with Channel 4 broadcasting the event since 2010. In 1886, Cruft's first dog show, billed as the "First Great Terrier Show", had 57 classes and 600 entries. With the close of the 19th century, entries had risen to over 3,000, including royal patronage from various European countries and Russia. In 1928, the Best In Show class was introduced and awarded to a Greyhound named Primley Sceptre, shown by Herbert Whitley, the founder of what is now Paignton Zoo. In 1934, the competition was sponsored by a cat food manufacturer. In 1936, "The Jubilee Show" had 10,650 entries with the number of breeds totalling 80. The first Obedience Championships were held in 1955, the same year working sheepdogs were first allowed to enter. In 1978, agility was introduced as a demonstration, to later become a competition in 1980, with an international invitational competition added in 2001. In 1985, the Young Kennel Club was founded to promote dog handling among younger people. Flyball was introduced in 1990, and in 1992, the first Heelwork to Music demonstration was carried out by Mary Ray. In the early 1990s the Kennel Club started to campaign for responsible dog ownership, with emphasis on people choosing the right dog for them, and introduced Discover Dogs area to Crufts, where visitors can meet all currently recognised breeds and chat to breed experts about dog ownership. In 2000, Rescue Dog Agility was added to the programme. By 1979, the show had to move to Earls Court exhibition centre, as the increasing number of entries and spectators had outgrown the capacity of its previous venue. The show was held on 10–13 March 2022, 9–12 March 2023, and 7 10 March 2024. The show will be held on 6 9 March 2025.

Crufts is not an open competition; dogs must have qualified during the previous year. There are a number of ways of qualifying for the breed classes at Crufts, but dogs typically qualify by obtaining first, second or third place in the relevant class at a Kennel Club affiliated Championship show where Challenge Certificates are awarded, or by achieving Best in Show, Reserve Best in Show or Best Puppy in Show at a Kennel Club affiliated Open or General show. Dogs can become qualified for life upon attaining their Kennel Club Stud Book Number. Dogs begin by competing against others of the same breed, split by gender, age and previous class wins. These classes include Veteran, Special Puppy, Special Junior, Yearling, Post Graduate, Mid Limit, Limit, and Open. Each is awarded once for dogs and once for bitches. The dog and bitch class winners then compete again for the Dog and Bitch Challenge Certificate (CC). The two CC winners then go head to head to determine the Best of Breed. As of 2016 the English Cocker Spaniel had been the most successful breed at Crufts, awarded Best In Show seven times, and the Gundog Group is the most successful group, having produced twenty three Best In Show winners. The popularity of Crufts and the interest of dog owners who do not own purebreeds convinced the Kennel Club to hold Scruffts, a show similar to Crufts for crossbreed dogs. The programme led various sponsors such as Hill's Pet Nutrition, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Dogs Trust to withdraw from their participation in Crufts and other Kennel Club events. The RSPCA stated that it is "concerned about the unacceptably high levels of disability, deformity and disease affecting pedigree dogs". The BBC dropped Crufts 2009 from its coverage after being unable to agree terms with the Kennel Club. It was reported that Pedigree Petfoods withdrew from sponsorship of Crufts following this programme, but this announcement was made well in advance of the broadcast and for financial reasons. Kennel Club Chairman Ronnie Irving said that "If this programme teaches us anything, I hope it will teach the 'purists' in some breeds that they simply must get a move on and realise that in these politically correct and well informed days, some old attitudes are simply no longer sustainable." Maintaining that the majority of dogs are healthy he said that "the roughly 90% of us who thankfully have healthy breeds must continue to guard against exaggeration and must bring pressure to bear on the laggards, otherwise we will – all of us – continue to be tarred with the same brush". The Kennel Club initially defended its practices, and criticised the programme as "highly biased". It also lodged a complaint to regulatory authority Ofcom claiming "unfair treatment and editing". The Kennel Club has introduced a new health plan, breed standards for every breed went under review, and show judges were required to choose only healthy dogs. It has also requested regulatory powers from the Government, which would allow the club to take actions against breeders who do not comply with health standards. New breed standards for 209 dog breeds were announced in January 2009, and became effective immediately, but with breeders allowed until June to object. The new standards were said to "not include anything that could in any way be interpreted as encouraging features that might prevent a dog from breathing, walking and seeing freely". "This will help to prevent the practice of exaggeration, where features that are perceived to be desirable, such as a short muzzle or loose skin, are made more prominent by breeders, and which can have detrimental effects on a dog’s health."

In February 2009, the results of an independent scientific report commissioned by the RSPCA concluded that "exaggerated physical features and inherited diseases cause serious welfare problems in pedigree dogs". Quoting Arman (2007), the report states that "Society and sections of the veterinary profession have become 'desensitised to the welfare issues to such an extent that the production of anatomically deformed dogs is neither shocking, nor considered abnormal'". It also states that "Breeding practices and efforts by breed societies and kennel clubs, to date, have been ineffective at protecting the welfare of many breeds of domestic dog" and that "changes in breeding and selection practices are urgently required". The Kennel Club states that the report "fails totally to recognise the real steady progress and advance of scientific knowledge that has already been made in the area of pedigree dog health".

Poppy Holman's play A Dog's Tale, based on Crufts, was commissioned as one of Mikron Theatre Company's two 2020 productions, was delayed by COVID 19, and premiered in Leeds on 5 June 2021.