Show winner poisoned in ‘KGB-style hit’ through dog owner’s £16,000 benefit fraud and murder of sick puppies… the dark side of Crufts
IT is the most prestigious dog show in the world, attracting thousands of puppies every year.
But over the years Crufts has been dogged by controversies – from KGB-style poisonings to allegations of abuse and even fraud.
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More than eight million viewers are expected to tune in to the television event Channel 4which has been labeled ‘grotesque and unethical’ by animal rights activists over the years.
While 24,000 dogs and their owners descend Birmingham for the annual competition we look at the scandals that have haunted Crufts.
Mysterious poisoning
In 2015, prize-winning Irish Setter Thendara Satisfaction died just days after competing at Crufts.
The three-year-old, informally known as ‘Jagger’, fell over while walking back home Belgiumleaving owners Willem and Aleksandra Lauwers devastated.
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The £50,000 pedigree pooch had reportedly eaten beef laced with poison, prompting accusations of a ‘KGB-style hit’ on the grounds of the National Exhibition Centre.
The saga made the front page of The Sun, with the headline ‘Murder at Crufts’.
The rumor mill was running at full speed when a shih-tzu, a West Highland terrier and an Afghan hound also became seriously ill during the tournament.
However, according to the Kennel Club, which has run the show since 1939, an autopsy found that the poison in the contaminated beef had been eaten by the dog in Belgium, not England.
Dr. Patrick Jans – the vet in charge of the investigation – told The Sun: “I doubt this happened at Crufts. I think it’s unlikely and I’m surprised anyone says this is the case.
“It could have happened on the way back from Crufts or even in the hours after they got back.”
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The perpetrator was never caught and the Lauwers are still convinced that there was foul play. They wrote on Facebook in 2016: “We are 100 percent certain he was maliciously poisoned.”
Cruelty claims
It wasn’t a great year for Crufts in 2015 as one of the attendants was bombarded with claims of cruelty.
Best in Show winner Rebecca Cross caused outrage when she grabbed her black Scottish terrier Knopa by the tail.
Viewers were left furious after she lifted the champion dog off the stage “like a coffee pot”.
About 190,000 people signed online petitions calling for Rebecca to be stripped of her prestigious title for alleged animal cruelty.
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The petition stated: “Under KC rule A42, Ms Cross is guilty of ‘defaming herself and being prejudicial to the interests of the dog community’ and must be held to account.”
Kennel Club organizers said they told Ms Cross it was unacceptable to collect Knopa in this way, but “despite repeated requests not to do so, she went ahead”.
Ms Cross later apologised, adding: “I didn’t do it on purpose, it was just a habit. It’s just one of those things.
“It happened and I really tried to think about it and not do it, but it’s a habit.”
£16K benefit fraud
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In 2019, former Crufts competitor Dawn Gregory was exposed as a benefit fraud.
She claimed she could only walk 20 meters at a stretch due to a brain hernia and was listed with the Department for Work and Pensions as suffering from headaches, neck and shoulder pain, weakness on her left side and mini-strokes.
Yet researchers were stunned to discover that Gregory was healthy enough to breed dogs in her £300,000 home in Kettlethorpe.
And they were even more stunned when the award-winning Kennel Club registered breeder was spotted on camera happily trotting alongside her dog at Crufts.
Prosecutors said Gregory demanded £16,719 at an inflated rate to which she was clearly not entitled.
She admitted benefit fraud and was given an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and a three-month curfew, electronically monitored.
The court also ordered the seizure of £16,719 worth of assets.
Puppy killer
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In 2017, an award-winning Crufts dog breeder killed eight border collie puppies by putting them in the freezer, a court heard.
Margaret Peacock, then 63, claimed she first contacted a local vet for help because she was concerned the puppies might have genetic mutations because their parents were siblings.
Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court heard she had made two calls threatening to kill the dogs, but the vet refused to put them down.
Peacock then called a third time and told the receptionist that the puppies were in the freezer. The next day she came to the clinic and handed over a bag containing eight frozen puppies.
One was still alive, but had to be put down. None of the puppies showed signs of genetic defects, despite being inbred.
Peacock blamed the vets for giving the puppies the worst death they could, but the fact remains that it was the defendant’s choice.
Andrew Austin, District Attorney
Prosecutor Andrew Austin told Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court: “Peacock blamed the vets for giving the puppies the worst death they could, but the fact remains it was the defendant’s choice.”
During an inspection at her home in Farnborough, Hampshirethe RSPCA found a ninth dead puppy – part of the same litter – which was later determined to have died after being hit on the head with a can opener.
Peacock admitted three counts of being a responsible person who failed to prevent unnecessary suffering to an animal, and was sentenced to two consecutive 12-week prison sentences, suspended for 12 months.
Vicious attack
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Last year, Margaret Peacock was jailed after serving two years and six months pet Belgian Malinois destroyed a woman visiting her home in 2021.
The dog, named Mako, tore into Natasha Turner’s leg, causing her to scream in pain.
The Crufts breeder, then 69, was also bitten when she wrestled Mako behind a fence, and later begged Natasha not to call the police, fearing her dog would be put down.
She was convicted of being in charge of the dog while it was dangerously out of control, banned from owning a dog in the future and fined £190.
Of the attack, Natasha said: “It was like someone had a knife, stuck it in your leg and ripped it through with a knife, that’s the only way I can describe it.”
She required plastic surgery for her injuries and was in “constant pain”.
The judge’s illegal puppy farm
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In 2022, a Crufts judge was found guilty of running an illegal puppy farm, where he kept dogs in appalling, filthy conditions.
Disgraced dog show judge Gareth Lawler, then 57, was ordered to pay £78,000 or face a year in prison.
The renowned Kennel Club judge made £153,000 from breeding 27 litters of puppies from eight different breeds and selling puppies for up to £2,000 each.
Authorities found evidence of ‘large-scale’ illegal breeding after obtaining a warrant to search his home in Hendy, Carmarthenshire.
Outrage over animal testing
Lawler’s shameful actions came just a few years after another Crufts judge, Ron James, was expelled from the Kennel Club for carrying out cruel experiments on beagles.
In 2019, it was revealed that Dr. James worked at Huntingdon Life Sciences animal research centre.
It was there that the Kennel Club panelist published four scientific papers based on experiments with beagles.
In one study, chemicals were reportedly fed to the dogs to observe side effects, while another experiment took tissue samples from the testicles of puppies.
Dr. James later admitted: “I resigned because I was asked to resign, but this is a matter between me and the Kennel Club”.