You might think that given my deep affection for dogs, I would be a fan of Westminster. Quite the contrary; I loathe it. WKC and its better-known counterpart, the American Kennel Club / AKC, are, in my opinion, indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions of dogs a year. It all comes down to this: professional dog breeders and their associations promote the breeding of pedigreed dogs, their use as status symbols, and the myths that they somehow make better pets.
The end results are disastrous: opportunists making profits of of cruelty factories known as puppy mills; more people trying to breed dogs for profit; and the unintended consequences such as culling (killing) of undesirable pups. In some breeds, tails and ears are docked (mutilated). This is to say nothing of the fact that many families who simply want a dog may, after seeing a cute or fun special breed on Westminster, decide to seek out a breeder, pet store, puppy mill, etc. when they would be better off getting a loving companion from an animal shelter.
It doesn't stop there. The breeding of pedigreed dogs adds to an already unsustainable pet population, which, as mentioned, results in hundreds of dogs being euthanized EVERY DAY at shelters around this country. Uninformed or unprepared buyers of pure-breeds may find themselves with undesirable pets who have too much energy, grow too big, need more space than can be provided, etc. These unwanted dogs are often dumped at shelters or simply abandoned, and nearly all of them will meet an untimely end.
Sadly, my own father is guilty of nearly all these sins. For his entire life, he has obsessed about owning purebred, pedigreed and papered, show-quality Akitas, Chow Chows and Borbols (a rare and very expensive South African Mastiff). They are less pets to him than status symbols. On several occasions, he has found a dog he brought home to be undesirable for behavior reasons (most recently discovering that a 180-pound Borbol is not a good fit in a home with a tiny backyard). Invariably he ends up giving them away or returning them to the breeders. In all but one case their fates are unknown to me. (The one good case was a Chow Chow named Beijing who was "too energetic" and aggressive. The new owners renamed him Happy and by all accounts he had a happy life.)
So yes, I despise the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and all it stands for. Please join Emmy and I in supporting your local animal shelter, and PLEASE spay or neuter your pets. Mutts rule!
(By the way, there is NOTHING wrong with owning a purebred dog. They need loving homes, too! Please consider getting yours from a rescue group, or from a certified, reliable breeder. The WORST thing you can do is buy from a pet store or puppy mill, or a shady dealer on Craigslist. And if you do get a pedigreed dog, consider giving an amount equal to the purchase price to your favorite no-kill shelter. Thanks!)
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