{"id":988,"date":"2015-02-13T21:40:07","date_gmt":"2015-02-13T21:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/?p=988"},"modified":"2015-02-14T08:42:45","modified_gmt":"2015-02-14T08:42:45","slug":"dog-lovers-arent-the-only-ones-who-cant-wait-for-westminster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/animal-sports-hobbies\/dog-lovers-arent-the-only-ones-who-cant-wait-for-westminster\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Lovers Aren&#8217;t the Only Ones Who Can&#8217;t Wait for Westminster!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For many dog enthusiasts, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.westminsterkennelclub.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Westminster Dog Show<\/a> is the most exciting and highly anticipated sporting event of the year. With a rich history dating back to 1877, top breeders and dog trainers from around the world work a lifetime <a title=\"Winning at Westminster: A Family Tradition\" href=\"http:\/\/www.naiaonline.org\/guest_editorials_and_commentary\/page\/winning-at-westminster-a-family-tradition\" target=\"_blank\">for the opportunity<\/a> to have their dogs recognized there.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.naiaonline.org\/uploads\/Main_Upload_Directory\/bistrans.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Most of these breeders belong to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apps.akc.org\/apps\/clubs\/search\/index.cfm\" target=\"_blank\">AKC kennel clubs<\/a>\u00a0where they, along with other dog lovers, volunteer their time and work for the benefit of dogs, responsible dog ownership, and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naiaonline.org\/naia-library\/articles\/the-next-endangered-species\/\" target=\"_blank\">preservation of their breeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>They breed their dogs carefully, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.akcchf.org\/research\/\" target=\"_blank\">contribute to canine health by donating to scientific research<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.offa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">test their own dogs before breeding them<\/a>&#8230;\u00a0then test them again in the show ring.<\/p>\n<p>In the world of dogs, to call Westminster a \u201cbig deal,\u201d is a big understatement!<\/p>\n<p>Of course, dog enthusiasts aren&#8217;t the only ones who eagerly await Westminster each year. Perhaps\u00a0you have noticed that in the weeks leading up to Westminster each year animal rights organizations increase their attacks on\u00a0AKC, purebred dogs, and dog shows exponentially\u00a0&#8212; especially the larger, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.naiaonline.org\/naia-library\/articles\/quotes-from-the-leaders-of-the-animal-rights-movement\/#Own\" target=\"_blank\">factory fundraising groups<\/a>.\u00a0This isn&#8217;t a coincidence: these guys <em>love<\/em>\u00a0the Westminster Dog Show! Whether their appreciation\u00a0comes in the form of carefully timed and targeted opinion pieces bashing the AKC, or more <a title=\"PETA dresses in KKK garb outside Westminster Dog Show\" href=\"http:\/\/usatoday30.usatoday.com\/sports\/2009-02-09-peta-westminster-kkk-protest_N.htm\" target=\"_blank\">disruptive forms of attention-seeking<\/a>, it is obvious that the animal rights crowd just can\u2019t get enough Westminster!<\/p>\n<p>And you know what? While we certainly don\u2019t <em>like <\/em>it, we understand why they do it. Their fundraising and hence their very existence depend on exploiting (disparaging) the work of others. So even though\u00a0they don&#8217;t produce any\u00a0exciting, constructive, or entertaining events like the Westminster Dog Show themselves, they <em>do<\/em> know how to capitalize on its success; they&#8217;d be crazy not to grab on to the coattails of this, one of dogdom&#8217;s most important, venerable and visible events! After all, it is easier to get attention by inserting yourself into someone else&#8217;s picture than by doing something positive yourself.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While [animal rights organizations] produce no exciting, positive, or entertaining events like the Westminster Dog Show, they do know how to capitalize off of it; they&#8217;d be crazy not to grab on to the coattails of this, one of dogdom&#8217;s most important, venerable and visible events!<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=988"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":995,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions\/995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naiaonline.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}