12 Mar 2026
Four-year-old clumber spaniel Bruin beat 18,000 dogs to take Crufts title, but charity says show is “rewarding” breeding practices that lead to health problems.
Allister Webb
Job Title
A leading animal charity has accused Crufts of “rewarding” breeding practices that lead to health problems over the awarding of its top prize.
Blue Cross officials have criticised the “extremely exaggerated features” of the event’s Best in Show as they called for more responsible breeding practices.
But the show’s organisers have defended the winner’s handler amid calls for him to be stripped of the title over a historic welfare offence.
Four-year-old Clumber Spaniel Bruin emerged from more than 18,000 competing dogs to take the annual show’s main award at Birmingham’s NEC on Sunday 8 March.
Although he was the first of the breed to win Best in Show for 35 years, Blue Cross said it was “saddened” the prize had gone to a dog with “extremely exaggerated features” in a thread on X, formerly Twitter.
The group added: “Traits such as severe drooping eyes are linked to irritation, which can lead to infection and chronic discomfort. It doesn’t have to be this way.
“Awarding top prizes to dogs with extreme features rewards breeding practices that directly cause health issues.
“Humans have the power to selectively breed healthy dogs, and it is our responsibility to our best friends to do this.
“At Blue Cross, we love all dogs, and we don’t believe any dog should be born to suffer.”
The comments echo broader concerns within the veterinary and welfare sectors about the health implications of some canine breeding practices and criticisms voiced ahead of the show by the RSPCA.
Its scientific and policy manager for companion animals, Ashleigh Brown, said the group recognised the show’s “international platform” to highlight the bond between dogs and humans.
But she added: “We cannot celebrate dogs being deliberately bred with exaggerated physical features that can cause them discomfort, pain and even suffering.”
The show’s organisers, the Royal Kennel Club, have so far not responded to a Vet Times request for comment on the issue.
But it has defended Bruin’s handler, Lee Cox, after it emerged that he had been convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog in 2001.
More than 15,000 people have now signed an online petition calling for the Best in Show prize to be withdrawn and a lifetime ban on anyone with “animal cruelty convictions” from owning, breeding or showing dogs at Crufts.
However, the RKC described the incident as “isolated” and said Mr Cox had made “a significant positive contribution to the world of dogs” since then.