September 17, 2008
Valerie Elliott and Dan Sabbagh

Britain's largest dog charity has withdrawn all support for Crufts over controversial breeding techniques for show animals.

The Dogs Trust had decided to follow the lead of the RSPCA, as reported by The Times yesterday, and cut all links with the Kennel Club, which organises the show.

Clarissa Baldwin, the trust's chief executive, is demanding that Kennel Club officials review breed standards to ensure that the main focus is the health and well-being of dogs, not the aesthetics of the breed.

Ms Baldwin has been in touch with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, urging it to bring forward laws to regulate dog breeding. Concerns were raised over the effects of intensive breeding by a BBC documentary, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, last month.

Antagonism towards the Kennel Club heightened when a senior official was filmed voicing approval for breeding female dogs with male offspring.

The furore appears to have spurred the Kennel Club into making a formal complaint about the BBC programme to Ofcom, the broadcast regulator.

Last night the BBC announced that it was to appoint a panel of independent experts to advise on the changes needed to improve dog welfare at Crufts. The Kennel Club is also reviewing its 44-year-old contract with the BBC to televise the show. A spokeswoman said: “In an ideal world we would want to continue with them.”