news - 24/01/2015 Mouscron 2015, where will it ever end? - Belgium
by Karl DonvilMouscron 2015, unexpected number of UK entries.
Some shows have secrets, secrets they cannot explain themselves. One of these is without any doubt the show of Mouscron. Notwithstanding the fact that everybody knows how crowded this show is, how difficult it is to find a parking place, how limited the available space is and how difficult it is to move around, this shows keeps on breaking its own record. And this year was no difference. From 1995 entries last year, 184 more dogs were entered, or no less than 2179 in total.
Sunday was reasonable with 923 dogs to judge and even that was pretty crowded, but on Sunday 333 more were expected and everybody wondered where they would find a place. But in the end there were no incidents at all. It was and is a mystery how such a hall can provide enough space for 1256 dogs. The show is very popular for the French people as the border is literally in the backyard of the inhabitants of the Westside of the town. There were 815 dogs entered from France which is much compare to the 983 dogs from Belgium. The Netherlands entered 181 dogs and Germany 92. But , as Mouscron is within easy reach for British exhibitors, the show attracted no less than 71 entries. Indeed, coming from Britain is no more difficult than coming from Germany or even the Netherlands and it's possible to be back home in the UK the very same evening of the show, doing everything on one single day. Parking space proved a big issue again this year. On Saturday about 50 cars were pulled away by the police. On Sunday the nearby parking of the supermarket was available. That helped of course but still more cars were pulled away on Sunday.
Inside the halls it is very difficult to move around in the morning till noon. This has to do with the fact that everyone wants to sit nearby their ring. Visitors are not able to sit around the ring to watch and the entrance of the ring is often blocked when dogs leave the ring while others try to be ready to enter for the next group. It should not be allowed to put cages around the rings but in marked areas only, leaving way to visitors and people who need to go to the rings. And this is so important for the safety in case of panic. There are enough doors that can be opened for escape but it is of no help if they are blocked by cages, dogs and stuff. Certain trade stand holders were not very happy either as exhibitors were literally sitting on their merchandise. In fact, and certainly for this show, the fixed good old iron cages are a good alternative as exhibitors are not able to place them wherever they want. Of course in that case it should not be allowed to use one's own cases, one rule for all. And if those cases are strategically placed, I think it might be a solution for this popular show that we all like so much. Indeed, since it became general use that all exhibitors bring their own cases, they tend to bring much more than they need, whole sets of garden furniture while the dogs are no longer in their cages. And when there are cages a lot of dogs just sit outside of them instead of in. Instead of saving space I think that more space is used than before, and this counts for a lot of shows, not only for Mouscron. For Mouscron I really think it is time that the committee should consider how to solve this problem and handle their success before its weight is crushing them.
Judges were officiating during this show and only 3 of them were Belgians. Mr.Spruyt and Mrs.Vermeire were filling the gaps in the judges list. They both judge a lot of breeds and it is always good if you can count on them instead of inviting special judges for only a few breeds. Mr.Fortemps judged only on Sunday. He took Cockers & Spaniel breeds for his account and 104 of them made it pretty busy Sunday. As told all the others came from abroad. Six of them came from France, if you can call that "abroad" as France is around the corner. Mr.Dupas had 190 dogs for his account, 136 of them on Sunday when he had 61 Chihuahuas. Mrs.Roser was also more busy on Sunday when she had shepherd dogs. She had 33 entries on Saturday and 94 on Sunday. Mrs. Banbury was the only UK judge but she was quite busy on Saturday with 127 entries. 52 Bulldogs were ready for her. On Saturday she had only 25 dogs to judge. Mrs. Adriana Griffa from Italy has been on the list in Belgium several times lately. Here she judged Pinsher and Schnauzers and Dobermanns on Saturday, 80 all together. On Sunday she had Shepherd breeds and especially the popular 36 Swiss White Shepherds helped her reach an impressive total of 128 entries. Mrs. Senashenko from Russia had 91 Terriers in her ring on Saturday and 84 waterdogs on Sunday, including 54 Golden Retrievers. Most successful judges were Mr and Mrs Opara from Poland. Mrs. OPara had 104 entries on Saturday, 40 American Staffies and all the Dachshunds. On Sunday she judged the Bostons, Pugs and French Bulldogs and that was good for another 98 entries. Her husband Mr.Opara had time to prepare on Saturday for a busy Sunday with only 36 entries. On Sunday he accepted all 179 dogs that were entered for him . He finished in time which was amazing. He judged Spitzes and Primitiv breeds including no less than 47 Akitas and another 22 American Akitas.
Mr.JJ.Dupas from France was the Best In Show judge. He only needed to chose one group winner as Best In Show and that was the blond American Cocker Spaniel "Very Vegie I Don't Know", bred by Mr.Laurent Pichard and owned by Mathilde Leonard-Nolle from France. In his color class he had 9 competitors to beat. He was entered in Open class at the age of just over two years. Judge was Mr.Fortemps, group judge was Mrs.Senashenko.
Next year the show will happen on 30 and 31 of January and that will be the 43th anniversary. MR Deconinck will welcome you again for sure. He is the protagonist of this club and one of the main reasons why everybody, exhibitors, judges and visitors like to come to this show. Let us hope that this show has a long future ahead.
