GUN DOG NEWS
By Sheila Gussey, BASC National Gundog Coordinator

Docking Win For Shooters

It's a victory for animal welfare. Working dogs can continue to have their tails docked to prevent injury after MPs voted to exclude them from a general ban on cosmetic docking in England and Wales. The result followed a series of votes on the Animal Welfare Bill in the House of Commons. This was the culmination of a six-week period of intense lobbying by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) to make the case for the exemption.

BASC director of communications Christopher Graffius says: "The vote was won by a coalition of MPs from all parties who saw the sense of exempting working dogs from a ban. It demonstrates the effectiveness of BASC's strategy of working with all political parties to seek a dialogue and support for shooting. I am delighted by this result, which is a victory for common sense and the welfare of working dogs." BASC does not expect the exemption clause to be overturned in the Lords.

The Bill is likely to become law this summer. However an offence will be committed if a person shows a dog docked after the bill becomes law at an event to which members of the public are admitted on payment of a fee. BASC is talking to Crufts to find a way forward for the gamekeepers' classes which involve docked working dogs at next year's event.

"Having argued for a welfare-based exemption, there was no scope to expand it to include showing whilst retaining support within parliament," Christopher says. "Make no mistake, this was a victory, albeit by a very narrow margin. We won an exemption by just 11 votes. If we had not maintained our line we would today be talking about a complete ban on docking and showing. Maintaining the status quo was never a political reality."


Easiest dog in the West is from North-West

An english springer spaniel from Cheshire took the title of Fastest Dog in the West at the Westcountry Game Fair. Twist, who is only 15 months old, entered the competition with her owner Helen Crick from Winsford in Cheshire, as a novice, having never taken part in a scurry before. She completed the two dummy retrieve in lightning speed.

BASC organised the competition. There were entries from more than 200 dogs for the eight events, which included bulldog, scurry with distraction, pick & mix, two in the pen, ducks down and the best in the west competitions. Despite the arctic conditions, 40 volunteers including 15 youngsters from the local army cadet force braved the strong winds that blew in across the Bath & West Showground each day, helping to make this a successful event.


Save The Children - Work Your Dog

Work your dog and raise money for charity at the same time. The Save the Children working retriever tests have started. They take place throughout May and June, with the final in Nottinghamshire. They are designed to be realistic exercises that allow the dogs to prove themselves able to mark, handle and display hunting ability and initiative in natural terrain without the distraction of country fair noise.

Top dogs qualify in each heat. You can enter as many heats as you like and give your dog a chance to shine. Dogs of any standard or breed may enter. The aim is to provide an enjoyable day with as many handlers and dogs as possible taking part. There are heats in Gloucestershire, South Wales, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Co Kildare and Leicestershire. The top four dogs in each heat will qualify for the finals at Osberton in Nottinghamshire. Entry fee is £10 per dog in advance or £15 on the day. Visit www.dogbootsactive.com/stc

(Reprinted with the premission of Sporting Shooter)