The Dark Underside of the Show-Dog World
January 27, 2016 8:55 AM   Subscribe

It was after the show, back home in Belgium, that Jagger began having such difficulty breathing that his alarmed owners called a veterinarian. By the time he got there it was too late: Jagger had collapsed and died. An autopsy found shocking evidence in the dog’s gastrointestinal tract: pieces of beef neatly folded with poison inside.
posted by Chrysostom (24 comments total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wow, the writer really delighted in making use of dog cliches, didn't they?
posted by Kitteh at 9:32 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Jagger began having such difficulty breathing that his alarmed owners called a veterinarian.

I can't imagine how this read to someone who had titles disabled.
posted by Enemy of Joy at 9:34 AM on January 27, 2016 [21 favorites]


Well I thought.. maybe.. there was no doctor for humans around?..
oh leave me alone!
posted by bigendian at 9:46 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


The annoying thing about that article is that after all the excited reporting on how competitive big dog shows are, the pathology report shows that the dog must have been poisoned at home. So, probably not a competitor or a member of the public.
posted by suelac at 9:56 AM on January 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Self-parody alert: “It’s daft!” Kisko says in reaction to this complaint. “Balderdash!… Just such rubbish!”
posted by Chrysostom at 9:57 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Does the show-dog world like having its dark underside scratched? Who's a good show-dog world? Who's a good show-dog world?
posted by XMLicious at 9:57 AM on January 27, 2016 [47 favorites]


I want to know who shot and killed that other dog. And who the puppynappers are.
posted by rewil at 9:58 AM on January 27, 2016 [6 favorites]


.
posted by KingEdRa at 10:12 AM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Wow, the writer really delighted in making use of dog cliches, didn't they?
posted by Kitteh


It's hard to see from the Internet, but outside it's a dog's world, Kitteh.
posted by four panels at 10:13 AM on January 27, 2016 [4 favorites]


Wow, the writer really delighted in making use of dog cliches, didn't they?
posted by Kitteh


Well, you're biased.
posted by Etrigan at 10:24 AM on January 27, 2016 [7 favorites]


The look of focused, goal-driven concentration on Jagger's face in the first photograph is . . . something I've never seen from an Irish Setter before.
posted by jamjam at 10:29 AM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Favorite fact from this article: the Irish setter who won Best in Breed this year is named "Thendara Pot Noodle."
posted by ostro at 10:37 AM on January 27, 2016 [6 favorites]


Are these prize winning dogs insured? In the death of Jagger, with experts concluding the dog ate the poison after leaving the dog show, and the owners insisting the poisoning happened at the show despite the contrary evidence, perhaps insurance fraud might be happening?
posted by dazed_one at 10:47 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


I'm not gonna say that they're the absolute lowest of the low, because you've gotta leave room for the Trumps and whatnot of the world in any kind of moral scale, but dog poisoners -- regardless of their motivation -- are pretty goddamned low.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:50 AM on January 27, 2016 [7 favorites]


What a coincidence! I was watching videos of English Setters last night trying to convince myself I don't want another dog (it's not working) when I came across a how to groom an Irish Setter video. For the curious this was Jagger. What a gorgeous dog.
posted by squeak at 10:53 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


I think whoever is pushing the view that toxicology evidence establishes that the poisoning must have taken place in Belgium is mistaking a rule of thumb for absolute truth -- I hope not merely because that's what they need to be the case.
posted by jamjam at 11:00 AM on January 27, 2016


If they had told me that that was a sculpture of a Scottish terrier made entirely out of black fondant, I would have believed it.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:15 AM on January 27, 2016


I came away from the article disappointed in the lack of interest from the police in either country. Even if it is legally a property crime, as such cases often are in the US, destroying a $75,000 piece of property is a pretty big deal. And I too thought of the insurance angle dazed_one mentions, which would also be of interest to law enforcement. Maybe the insurance company (if there is one; I didn't see it mentioned in the article) will be more interested in looking into it.
posted by TedW at 11:20 AM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


Or investigating it as a case of animal cruelty?
posted by squeak at 12:00 PM on January 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Favorite fact from this article: the Irish setter who won Best in Breed this year is named "Thendara Pot Noodle."

Not Poodle. Setter.
posted by Leon at 12:03 PM on January 27, 2016


Is there a part of show dog world that isn't a dark underside?
If there's a light overside, I've never heard of it.
posted by flaterik at 2:50 PM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


If there's a light overside, I've never heard of it

The light overside is watching all the mixed-breed and fixed/spayed rescue dogs play flyball and do agility. Those are some happy happy dogs.
posted by suelac at 3:01 PM on January 27, 2016


Reading this makes me quite sick at heart. We used to raise purebred collies, though we didn't show them, and I know from attending how crazy the world of showing dogs can be. But that is the people, not the dogs. No dog should die like this or the way other dogs profiled in this article have.
posted by bearwife at 3:13 PM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


I wonder if the poisoned meat could have been frozen when given to the Jagger? It may have delayed the effects long enough to muddy the timing of his death. I know my dogs would eat frozen bits of meat as easily as raw.
posted by Gadgetenvy at 10:03 AM on January 29, 2016


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