They managed it! Who would have dared put their money on the FCI European Section's 2012 Show in Bucharest being such a resounding success? Victim of a smear campaign on the social networks (what power, what strength, often positive but at times also very harmful), the Asociatia Chinologica Romana (AchR) was able to keep a cool head, rising to the challenge and attracting more than 6,000 dogs to the Romanian capital. The AChR was able to leverage the smear campaign against it to promote the show, and the least we can say is that it was very successful in doing so. Congratulations to the whole Romanian team, brilliantly led by Mr C. Stefanescu and Mr P. Muntean.

Unfortunately, three of the canine world’s top personalities have recently left us and the FCI would like to pay tribute to them here...

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Yves De Clercq
FCI Executive Director
Interview with Paula Iacob
At the press conference held on 4 October on the occasion of the FCI European Section's Show in Bucharest, the Romanian Federation for the Protection of Animals and the Romanian Canine Organisation signed an agreement for the protection of dogs. The purpose of this agreement, set to run until 2020, is to help dogs and protect their environment. An integral part of the agreement involves the provision of a vehicle for use in preventing the mistreatment of dogs and sterilising them. Among the signatories are Mr Stefanescu, President of the Romanian Kennel Club, Mr Marinescu, President of the Romanian Federation for the Protection of Animals and Ms Paula Iacob, a well-known Romanian lawyer and always prepared to defend the canine cause.

Member of the Romanian National Union of Lawyers - Bucharest office
President of the Romanian Woman Bar Association
President of the UNESCO - F.R.A.C.U Foundation

Paula Iacob

Ms Iacob, would you like to share with FCI newsletter readers your out-of-the-ordinary experience of which you were a protagonist a few years ago?

"Certainly! Five or six years ago, somebody came looking for me, asking for help in a rather curious case: a Japanese businessman had been bitten by a stray dog and had died soon after, allegedly as a result of the bite. Bosquito - that was the name of the dog in question - had immediately been taken to a shelter in which he was being kept locked up, without any food or anyone coming to visit him. I went to the place he was being kept and asked to see and feed him. However, I was refused the right to visit him several times. These practices reminded me of the inhuman treatment inflicted on political prisoners in a dark period of our history, and really shook me up. Feeling concern about the application of these inhumane practices toward this animal, I started investigating the facts - i.e. what had really happened. It transpired that the unfortunate Japanese man had had of a heart attack which had caused him to collapse on top of Bosquito. The latter, seeing the person about to fall right on top of him, had interpreted this as an attack. There was no doubt that he had bitten the man, but this was the result of a defensive reflex, as he had felt himself threatened. In no way had he attacked the man. Once the facts had been established and Bosquito's innocence proved, Ms Iacob was allowed to visit him and bring him food. It took quite a bit of time for the animal to regain confidence in human beings, to let someone come close to him and to accept being fed. Having got wind of this story, Brigitte Bardot herself sent some food to Bosquito! The story came to a happy end, with a German citizen, also touched by the fate of dog and the overhasty sentence, adopting it. Bosquito is now living happily with his new owner in Germany."

Ms Iacob is all in favour of the idea of teaching children at the earliest age to respect and love animals, referring to a university study which showed that a high percentage of adult criminals had as children maltreated animals in some way. Thus anybody maltreating or even torturing an animal could easily do the same to a human being! "Any human being worthy of this name should respect animals, as in doing so they show their respect for themselves. Has not mankind, since the dawn of time, fought for its freedom? How can men then ignore the right of this same freedom for animals, themselves just as much living creatures as human beings? Can a human being still be called "civilised" when he maltreats animals?" In the eyes of the famous lawyer, the Declaration of Animal Rights (see below) is to be seen as an extension of the Declaration of Human Rights. Having throughout her life fought to protect civil liberty, she is now prepared to fight just as ferociously to have anyone harming the well-being of an animal and their right to freedom ending up in prison. Ms Iacob likes emphasising that in the course of her long professional career she has often noticed that judges who love and defend animals are also good judges of human beings.


The European Show in Bucharest: "a new awareness!"

One of the Show's most colourful moments in the view of Mrs Iacob was when pan flutist Mr Gheorghe Zamfir played in the main ring. "Artists just love animals; this magic moment touched the soul, you could see the sun shining in the eyes of the audience, we were all one big family. And the applause afterwards! There was no room for any differences in culture or social standing; all that was there was a feeling of love for the dogs and brotherhood between human beings. It just gripped everyone! I was so full of admiration for all those people who, in times where everyone is just thinking about his own pocket, travelled thousands of kilometres to live their passion and put the spotlight on their dog. It was obvious that everybody was appreciative and happy, we all felt strong together."

Mrs Iacob went on to confide in us that, during the European Show in Bucharest, she had come to understand what this all meant: "I would like to offer my services to the FCI, in the context of any new initiative. I am full of admiration for all this work leading to 86 member countries all working together - for a 100 years now! - for the benefit of dogs. And I am very happy that the Romanian Canine Organisation is part of the FCI".

Marie Luna Durán
Marketing and Public Relations


Universal Declaration of Animal Rights, proclaimed in the Maison de l'UNESCO in Paris on 15 October 1978 and revised by the International League of Animal Rights in 1989, reproduced here with the kind permission of the La Fondation Droit Animal, Ethique et Sciences (LFDA), 39 rue Claude Bernard 75005 Paris, www.fondation-droit-animal.org

N.B. free translation; original version: French.

FOREWORD:

Considering that Life is one, all living beings having a common origin and having diversified in the course of the evolution of the species,
Considering that all living beings possess natural rights, and that any animal with a nervous system has specific rights,
Considering that the contempt for, and even the simple ignorance of, these natural rights, cause serious damage to Nature and lead humanity to commit crimes against animals,
Considering that the coexistence of species implies a recognition by the human species of the right of other animal species to live,
Considering that the respect of animals by humans is inseparable from the respect of people for each other,

IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED THAT:

Article 1
All animals have equal rights to exist within the context of biological equilibrium.
This equality of rights does not overshadow the diversity of species and of individuals.

Article 2
All animal life has the right to be respected.

Article 3
Animals must not be subjected to bad treatment or to cruel acts.
If it is necessary to kill an animal, it must be instantaneous, painless and cause no apprehension.
A dead animal must be treated with decency.

Article 4
Wild animals have the right to live and to reproduce in freedom in their own natural environment.
The prolonged deprivation of the freedom of wild animals, hunting and fishing practiced as a pastime, as well as any use of wild animals for reasons that are not vital, are contrary to this fundamental right.

Article 5
Any animal which is dependent on people has the right to proper sustenance and care.
It must under no circumstances be abandoned or killed unjustifiably.
All forms of breeding and uses of the animal must respect the physiology and behaviour specific to the species.
Exhibitions, shows and films involving animals must also respect their dignity and must not include any violence whatsoever.

Article 6
Experiments on animals entailing physical or psychological suffering violate the rights of animals.
Replacement methods must be developed and systematically implemented.

Article 7
Any act unnecessarily involving the death of an animal, and any decision leading to such an act, constitute a crime against life.

Article 8
Any act compromising the survival of a wild species and any decision leading to such an act are tantamount to genocide, that is to say, a crime against the species.
The massacre of wild animals, and the pollution and destruction of biotopes are acts of genocide.

Article 9
The specific legal status of animals and their rights must be recognised by law.
The protection and safety of animals must be represented at the level of governmental organisations.

Article 10
Educational and schooling authorities must ensure that citizens learn from childhood to observe, understand and respect animals.