Members of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) protested the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in NYC to "draw a parallel between the KKK and the American Kennel Club." According to PETA, "the AKC is trying to create a "master race" when it comes to pure-bred dogs. It's a very apt comparison."

Those PETA folks really need to get a grip, its just a freaking dog show.

Well, if the KKK is trying to create a master race, they ought to get those guys to show up for their rallies instead of the imbeciles that represent them!

And as someone who worked dogs for a living for 14 years, I can tell you dog show people and the AKC are destroying the functionality of every breed of dog out there.

Aha! I thought so. I've always had my suspicions about the AKC. You know who else I don't trust? Those beauty pageant people. Oh, yeah. And you know who else? The fashion industry and their modeling agencies. They're actually nazis. Uh-huh. You know they are.

Sometimes those PETA types act like a bunch of free-range loons. Every once in a while they should just be bitch-slapped, and told to shut up and sit down. This is one of those times.

I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, but this is ridiculous! How is ensuring/maintaining a multiplicity of pure-bred dogs equal to killing/removing non-Aryan humans for the sake of creating a single "superior" human breed?

PETA also considers owning a pet to be "animal slavery". The part that drives me crazy is PETA actually does a significant amount of good but that gets overshadowed by crazy remarks.

(Not a member of PETA.)

PETA is a radical animal rights organization would rather kill pets than see them adopted.

Actually, PETA's stance on "no-kill" shelters is that it is better for shelters to euthanize non-adoptable pets rather than have them live for years in such a setting. They are only talking about those pets without a good chance of adoption; i.e., pitbulls, aged animals, animals that won't get adopted due to medical conditions. Shelters are horrible settings for any creature to have to endure long-term but no-kill shelters do just that.

Can you elaborate on this? I know close to nothing about dogs.

PETA does little work to place animals into adoption out of its own all-kill shelters. Adoption rates out of SPCA shelters run 50-70% depending on locale. SPCA shelters take in animals of all sorts, including those that may be considered unadoptable and there is appropriate use of euthanasia in many shelters. PETA adopts about 1% of the animals it takes in and indiscriminately euthanizes animals because or its radical agenda.

Dog shows are nothing more than beauty pageants and totally subjective ones at that. A dog can have various health problems (hip dysplasia, hypothyroidism, eye problems) and as long as they are not visible, they can become champions if they are "campaigned" enough.

Virtually all the working police & military dogs in this country are imported from Germany, Holland or Belgium or are bred from those lines because American-bred dogs can't do the work. There is a clear split in Germans shepherds (my breed) -- Americans breeders openly say they want 'form over function'. German/working line breeders want a working dog. Working shepherds have straight backs as opposed to the angled back on American shepherds. I get my dogs from working line breeders.

Same with show v. hunting Labradors. Show Labs are larger, field Labs smaller and have ten times the energy and ability.

Show dogs are powdered, dyed and often closely-bred (father to daughter) for a look, not ability.

Is it true that in the UK that animals can only become champions by demonstrating a certain aspect of excellence in conformation and in the field (i.e., even toy breeds must demonstrate a level of excellence in companionship, "gun dogs" through their retrieving abilities)?

Heil Fido! Heil Fido!

LOL CC!

Just a bunch of bitchy whiny people.

I took that from a movie, someone remind me which movie.

Can someone also explain dog show judging? If they are judging against the breed standard, why doesn't the same dog win every time?

Mostly due to subjectivity, who is friendly with whom, breed favoritism.

It is ridiculous for the AKC to maintain that an all-breed judge (that judges Best in Show) can know all the standards for 120+ breeds. It's all a joke but a profitable one (for the AKC).