Animal rights protesters disrupt Crufts prize ceremony
THE Crufts Best in Show award ceremony was disrupted when a protester ran into the dog show arena just as the winner was declared on live television.
A man holding a sign reading “Crufts: Canine Eugenics” was swiftly tackled to the ground by security staff.
The sign bore the name of animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
Yvette Short, of Edinburgh, clutched her winning two-and-a-half-year-old whippet bitch, Collooney Tartan Tease, as the commotion unfolded at the NEC Birmingham.
Crufts and the NEC Group said they would review security procedures as “a matter of urgency” as the scare frightened the dogs and risked their safety.
A Crufts spokesman said: “It appears that protesters from PETA gained unauthorised access to the ring in the main arena at Crufts, and in doing so scared the dogs and put the safety of both dogs and people at risk in a hugely irresponsible way.
“Our main priority at the moment is the well-being of the dogs that were in the ring, who are being looked after by their owners and show officials.”
PETA UK later tweeted a clip of the invasion and claimed activists were protesting against extreme breeding.
It said there were two intruders and named them as members of the Vegan Strike Group, which bills itself as fighters against animal abuse.