Bark Challenges Canine Beauty Pageants on NPR's "Talk of the Nation"

Hot on the heals of America's most prestigious show-ring event, the Westminster Dog Show, a recent "Talk of the Nation" radio program featured a discussion of dog shows and dog culture. The panel of canine aficionados, hosted by moderator Melinda Penkava included Bark publisher, Cameron Woo. Woo was invited to present the dissenting perspective—the view that dog shows are "little more than beauty contests for canines, centered upon pageantry and advertising rather than sport or the love of dogs." "The fancy" or the multi-million dollar show-ring industry, has come under increasing attack for its out-dated notions of beauty and standards—defining quality in dogs primarily on the basis of appearance and promoting destructive forms of inbreeding. "The Bark appreciates the total nature of dogs—not simply their appearance, but their intelligence, wit and spirit. We praise the everyday mutt as well as the blue-blooded purebreds. In our view, all canines are created equal," declared Woo.

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