CRUFTS is back on the box for another year of pampered pooches and strutting canines.
However, despite being dubbed the world’s most prestigious dog show, over the years the show has been dogged by controversial moments.
Crufts has been involved in many scandals[/caption]
Crufts has been a fan favourite for many years, ever since the first one in 1939.
More than eight millions viewers tune in every year to the televised event on Channel 4.
The annual competition sees 24,000 dogs and their owners descend on Birmingham.
But sometimes the show leaves viewers with their jaws dropped.
Here we take a look at the scandals and controversies that have hounded Crufts over the years.
POISONING SCANDAL
In 2015, prize-winning Irish Setter Thendara Satisfaction died just days after competing at Crufts.
Also known as Jagger, the three-year-old dog keeled over during a walk back home in Belgium, leaving owners Willem and Aleksandra Lauwers devastated.
The £50,000 pedigree pooch had reportedly consumed beef laced with poison – sparking allegations of a ‘KGB style hit’ within the grounds of the National Exhibition Centre.
The rumour mill went into overdrive when a shih-tzu, a West Highland terrier and Afghan hound also suffered serious illnesses during the tournament.
However, according to the Kennel Club, a post-mortem found the poison in the tainted beef was eaten by the pooch in Belgium, not England.
Mark Roberts streaked across the arena in 2010[/caption]
PEDIGREE BUM
A streaker, wearing a strategically placed cat mask, interrupted judging at Crufts 2010.
Mark Roberts, from Liverpool, shocked fans when he ran across the floor during the Gundog competition.
He was wearing nothing but shoes, socks and a cat-shaped mask covering his modesty.
Mark was quickly escorted from the area, allowing judging to continue.
Crufts winner Rebecca Cross sparked outrage when she picked her dog up by the tail[/caption]
CRUELTY CLAIMS
It wasn’t a great year for Crufts in 2015, when one of its handlers was blasted with cruelty claims.
The Best in Show winner Rebecca Cross sparked outrage when she picked up her black Scottish terrier Knopa by the tail.
Viewers raged after she lifted the champion pooch off the podium “like a coffee pot”.
Around 190,000 people signed online petitions calling for Rebecca to be stripped of her prestigious title for alleged animal cruelty.
DANGEROUS DOG
An owner of a prize winning dog narrowly escaped jail after her pet attacked someone at Crufts in 2014.
A court heard how Lorain Ronis from Luton had been posing with her five-year-old dog Eddie after he triumphed in the Good Citizen Dog category, when he lunged at an another Akita, called Banks.
The dog was pulled away but then attacked Louie Nelson – who later needed surgery on her knee and was left with permanent nerve damage to her hand.
District Judge Ian Strongman at a magistrates court in Birmingham told Ronis: “I find as a fact that it was your dog who started it by being aggressive towards the other dog.
“Whilst I am sure you are very sorry for the injuries that were caused, you have shown no true remorse.
“Louise Nelson suffered a very severe injury, a life changing injury.
“I accept when your dog started to misbehave you did your level best to restrain him but, no doubt excited by the success that you had, you were not paying proper attention to the dog.
“You allowed it to be too close to the other dog. You did not spot the warning signs.”
The judge sentenced her to a 12 month community order and ordered her to do 250 hours unpaid work, saying he would have sent her to jail but for her exemplary good character.
A protester took to the arena in 2018[/caption]
PROTESTER TACKLED
At the 2018 Crufts, a protester was dramatically tackled to the ground, just as the winner was announced live on TV.
Animal activists stormed the arena as the Best in Show award was handed over, with security guards rushing to stop them in their tracks.
Owner Yvette Short, of Edinburgh, could be seen clutching the overall winner, a two-and-a-half-year-old whippet bitch called Tease, as the chaos unfolded
She had just proudly stepped up onto the podium with the pooch as the intruders sprinted onto the grounds.
But Yvette quickly grabbed Tease as protesters were cornered by security in front of the live audience, who began to boo.
The crowd then broke into applause as the intruders were taken away.
The intruder was tackled to the ground[/caption]
