• Annual dog show opens at the NEC in Birmingham
• Event goes online after BBC drops coverage

Stephen Bates Thursday 5 March 2009 12.24 GMT

Dogs and their owner arrive for Crufts 2009 at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA

The Crufts dog show opened at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham this morning with organisers insisting they expected record crowds despite last year's controversy over breeding methods for pedigree dogs, which caused the BBC to drop its coverage, the major sponsor Pedigree to pull out and the RSPCA to end its association with the 118-year-old show.

Animal rights demonstrators are threatening to picket the show on Sunday, its final day, when the Crufts champion dog is chosen.

In response to the loss of broadcast coverage ‑ which last year attracted 14 million viewers ‑ the Kennel Club has launched a live webcast on the internet showing events from the arena, with commentary provided by Peter Purves and Frank Kane, the BBC's regular broadcasters at the show.

There will also be a live radio broadcast, available over the web and accessible on radios within a three-mile radius of the NEC.

Purves, a former actor and Blue Peter presenter, was quoted by the Kennel Club's website as saying: "I am really pleased that the club has decided to take the show online, enabling the thousands of dog lovers who look forward to Crufts every year to see a slice of the action … it is a big-hearted and fun celebration of happy, healthy dogs and everybody is invited to join in."

The publicity surrounding a BBC documentary last August, which alleged that in-breeding and the encouragement of damaging and unhealthy specifications for some pedigree breeds was causing deformities and unnecessary traits to be developed, has rocked the dog world.

The programme showed a King Charles spaniel suffering from syringomyelia, a condition in which its skull was too small for its brain, allegedly exacerbated by the breed's tiny gene pool in Britain; boxers suffering from epilepsy; pugs with breathing problems; alsations with deformed hind legs and sloping backs and bulldogs, unrecognisable from old pictures of the breed, so changed as to be unable to mate or give birth without assistance.

The Kennel Club, regulators of pedigree breeds, has reacted defensively to the allegations, claiming them to be far from accurate and some breeders have responded with fury to the programme, as much as to the accusations it contained, which were backed by the RSPCA and some owners.

Crufts began in 1891 as a promotional event sponsored by a dog food manufacturer and has been run by the Kennel Club since 1938. The club, which is estimated to have lost £500,000 as a result of this year's sponsorship pull-outs, says it expects 28,000 dogs to take part, the third highest entry in its history, and hopes for crowds which will exceed last year's 160,000.

The club's spokeswoman, Caroline Kisko, said: "Although the show will no longer be on the BBC, we know that it is the world's best platform to bring together those organisations and individuals who care about dogs, so we can continue to make a positive differencem … we have the continued support of many high-profile veterinary organisations and dog welfare charities and want to ensure we continue to engage the support of those dog lovers who are unable to get to the show."

The message for visitors and viewers this morning was that the show remains the best in the world. Those tuning in to the dogs' agility competition, which launched proceedings at 8.30am, heard the announcer say of the contest, in which dogs race around an obstacle course, that it was not just for pedigree breeds: "This is a lot better than some foreign clubs … we allow any dogs to compete so long as they're registered with the Kennel Club."

Despite its defensivenes, the club has announced a review of the specifications for the 209 pedigree breeds and will be introducing revised standards for some of them.

Animal rights protesters have called on Facebook for supporters to join them at the NEC on Sunday, wearing dog costumes and bearing banners claiming that breeding dogs is pointless when there are already so many in the world.Protest against inbreeding dogs and Crufts dog show"Now it is time for the public to put another nail in the coffin," the message says, adding that it has liaised with West Midlands police about the demonstration.

Source:http://www. guardian. co. uk/uk/2009/mar/05/crufts-opening-bbc-rspca-protests