On Tue, 27 Apr 2004 08:34:39 -0500, kaeli
wrote:

In article , oldmolly1955
enlightened us with...
Kristine Kochanski wrote:

You obviously have *no* understanding of cat behaviour. You probably
have one overweight pampered moggy at home and assume that the world is
a nice place full of nice people where nice things happen every day.

And YOU assume that cat shows in the States are the same as in the UK.
They are not, from what you've said. The judges DO judge in front of
everyone, not behind closed doors (at least at the ones I went to).

The show I went to was in the UK, it was a small venue. The judges
lifted each cat from its cage and held it in the air while looking at
it from various angles, in its ears, under its tail etc etc. I've
asked a few people about this and the general consensus is that the
cats are usually taken from the cages and put on a trolley to be
examined before moving on to the next. This is done in full public
view - presumably to stop any cheating or ambiguity.

And
the cats don't look overly pleased while they're being held aloft for
all to see. Nor do many of them look pleased to be cooped up in tiny
cages for hours on end (no one in the general public can touch them, as
they might spread disease). This is life. One day of being not-so-
thrilled once in awhile for many, many days of pampered joy. I think
they'll live. *g*

Oh absolutely. Like I said in the original post, I don't doubt the
cats are hideously pampered and the owners loved showing them off and
chatting about it, I just think it's quite a barbaric practice to
still be doing in this so-called civilised world.