PETA protest no obstacle to Sadie winning top dog award
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SADIE the Scottish terrier won America's top dog show, and that was pretty predictable. What happened moments before she took the title at Westminster was far more startling.
Two women walked into the center ring at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night and held up signs that said "Mutts Rule" and "Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs' Chances," the latter a slogan popularized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The crowd of 15,000 gasped at the protest, then booed the well-dressed women and cheered as security ushered them away without incident. The women, who acted on their own but were supported by PETA, were charged with criminal trespass, police said.
The interruption lasted about a minute and was not featured on the USA Network telecast. Moments later, 4-year-old Sadie climbed the purple best in show podium where one of the women had stood.
"I thought it was well-controlled by our people," Westminster spokesman David Frei said, without elaborating.
Sadie was a big favorite coming into the show, which is for 2,500 purebred dogs. There have been previous protests at Westminster, but none nearly this dramatic. As a matter of course, the public-address announcer at the Garden reads an announcement urging people to visit shelters and adopt their dogs.
PETA contends the focus on purebreds leaves many mutts homeless. In a statement, PETA vice president Daphna Nachminovitch said "euthanasia becomes a sad necessity."
Sadie came to New York as America's No. 1 show dog and earned her 112th best in show ribbon. Also reaching the final ring were a brittany that recently had two litters, a whippet that can run 56 kilometers per hour, a Doberman pinscher headed into retirement, a white toy poodle who overcame his anxiety around crowds, a Canadian-bred French bulldog and a puli that twice won the herding group.
"She was perfect," handler Gabriel Rangel said. "I couldn't ask for anything more."
Two women walked into the center ring at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night and held up signs that said "Mutts Rule" and "Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs' Chances," the latter a slogan popularized by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
The crowd of 15,000 gasped at the protest, then booed the well-dressed women and cheered as security ushered them away without incident. The women, who acted on their own but were supported by PETA, were charged with criminal trespass, police said.
The interruption lasted about a minute and was not featured on the USA Network telecast. Moments later, 4-year-old Sadie climbed the purple best in show podium where one of the women had stood.
"I thought it was well-controlled by our people," Westminster spokesman David Frei said, without elaborating.
Sadie was a big favorite coming into the show, which is for 2,500 purebred dogs. There have been previous protests at Westminster, but none nearly this dramatic. As a matter of course, the public-address announcer at the Garden reads an announcement urging people to visit shelters and adopt their dogs.
PETA contends the focus on purebreds leaves many mutts homeless. In a statement, PETA vice president Daphna Nachminovitch said "euthanasia becomes a sad necessity."
Sadie came to New York as America's No. 1 show dog and earned her 112th best in show ribbon. Also reaching the final ring were a brittany that recently had two litters, a whippet that can run 56 kilometers per hour, a Doberman pinscher headed into retirement, a white toy poodle who overcame his anxiety around crowds, a Canadian-bred French bulldog and a puli that twice won the herding group.
"She was perfect," handler Gabriel Rangel said. "I couldn't ask for anything more."
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