Ever since myself and Amanda attended the first BSD Agility WC in Belgium 2003 we have been totally focussed on making the selection process for the BSD WC GB squad completely fair, open to all, and with the main objective of taking the best available dogs and handlers each year.
Sadly, events leading up to the WC in Hungary resulted in me making the very hard decision to withdraw Blitz from the squad, as I no longer felt that the above aims had been achieved - the selection process had been corrupted and some of the best dogs in the UK had already been withdrawn, even after being rabies vaccinated specifically for this event. This page has been written to make sure that the events from Vapresto's perspective are on record.
The 2005 WC was held at the end of May and our fund-raising show (Spring At Shuttleworth) was held two weeks prior to us needing to submit entries for the event: Consequently, all those entered knew exactly how much money was available and that the trip would be fully funded. In 2006, the BSD WC was held in early May and our entries had to be received by the organisers two weeks PRIOR to Spring At Shuttleworth... This fundamental difference proved critical, as it meant there was a risk that NO FUNDS would available at all (in case the show had to be cancelled due to the forecast "worst Winter since 1963") and so entrants would not know if they would have to fund their own trip or not.
We initially had 12 people with vaccinated dogs who wished to be considered for the 2006 BSD WC, but when the closing date (of 30th March) for entries was announced in January we then knew that there would be a financial influence on the entry from GB: If our show did have to be cancelled (due to bad weather, or even Bird-Flu) competitors would have to find their share of the costs of travelling to Hungary and back, as well as accommodation and subsistence.
Also, all the coach companies that we had contacted had initially stated that they would require FULL payment prior to our show, although Reliance had eventually agreed to accept a £1,000 deposit, with the balance payable after the show. Consequently, we asked all interested parties to answer the following questions...
"Can you ALL please state YES or NO for EACH of the following options, depending upon what you are prepared to pay, and whether you are willing to share the driving of a minibus or not:1.) Please book the coach and I am prepared to pay 1/8th share of full cost if Spring At Shuttleworth is cancelled (about £1250 each) and pay around £700 each even if show goes ahead2.) Please book coach and I am prepared to pay 1/8th share of minibus costs and lost coach deposit (about £900 each) and do my share of driving of minibuses (probably about 5 hours (not all in one go of course) in each direction) if show is cancelled3.) Don't book coach and I am happy to go by minibus anyway and I will do my share of driving (as above) and pay about £700 each if show cancelled, (probably nothing if show goes ahead).Obviously if 8 or more say yes to number 1 or to number 2, I will book the coach and will require a cheque from each of you for £150 to cover the booking deposit (I'll contact you all with address, etc. when I need it)."
These figures were based upon a coach quotation of £8,000 plus driver's accommodation and expenses, and the organisers suggestions for accommodation at the event.
The outcome of this email was that 9 handlers answered YES to (1) and/or (2) above, thus confirming that there needed to be some form of selection process between the two handler / dog combinations that had not quite met all the qualification criteria - and this was the start of all the problems!
At our next training session, Helen Brown announced that they had received an offer of a loan to fund the full cost of the trip, repayable at our 'leisure' if the show had to be cancelled and thus no funds were raised. On questioning Helen would not reveal the identity of the lender and stated that I would receive an email with all the details for our consideration (which we never received). However, it transpired that this offer was conditional upon particular people being part of the squad - which we were, and always will be, fundamentally opposed to. In fact, one of the people that would need to be in the squad was a handler who had never competed with the dog that they wished to enter for the World Championships! When we suggested that the selection process should be re-opened for those that had initially said they could not afford to take the financial risk, the offer was withdrawn.
We should add here that all the parties involved in this attempt to 'buy' places on the squad stood in silence while the announcement was made, and cast all the interested parties under suspicion by not revealing their part in it.
Cutting a very long story short, two more people decided to withdraw their interest and myself, Amanda, Michelle Griffiths and Gill Raddings proposed that we forget about Hungary in 2006 (as funding appeared to be an insurmountable obstacle to a 'fair' selection process) and use the proceeds from the Spring at Shuttleworth show to fund the 2007 effort - thus ensuring in future years that we always had funding in advance, prior to even starting the selection process (so that interested parties knew the cost in advance). You can read this proposal in full by clicking here.
Sadly, this proposal was rejected and Gill kindly offered to set up a meeting at her house to discuss the way forward. At this meeting, Andy Brown proposed that we allocated 50% of the 2006 show profits to Hungary and the rest to future World Championships, and this was agreed by all present. The minutes of this meeting can be read by clicking here.
Subsequent to this meeting, a number of those remaining in the 'squad' ceased to communicate with ourselves (apart from a few vitriolic emails) and we decided that we no longer wished to be involved in the organisation of what we considered to be an unrepresentative squad for 2006, and Tina Simpson also withdrew from the squad (allegedly due to a lost passport). Andy Brown, Anne & Louise Challis, and Julie Saunders between them appointed Mike Bacon as Team Manager.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the training session kindly hosted by John Gilbert, where the actual team was confirmed (disregarding some of John's advice I am told) and the rest is history:
With the very kind help of Michelle Griffiths, Vapresto continued to organise the 2006 Spring at Shuttleworth show (we insured the event, signed all contracts with suppliers (including the venue itself), and acted as Treasurers). The show went ahead as planned and raised in excess of £10,000... £5,000 was paid to Anne Challis and Julie Saunders, as agreed, towards the Hungary trip, and the remainder is in a reserve account for future BSD World Championships.
Having already stated that I was not prepared to submit my dog to the torture of a 25 hour coach trip (he travelled very badly to Germany last year), I agreed to make my own travel arrangements and not use any of the funds raised for this purpose. However, at the eleventh hour, I decided not to travel to Hungary at all - as I have already said, mainly because I did not wish to be associated with, and spend a week with, people who had attempted to interfere with a fair and equitable selection process, and who had caused us so much stress and unnecessary (and unpaid) work, over the previous 3 months.