27/05/2014
The 8th Afghan Hound World Congress is over and I would take the opportunity to thank the people who attended the event once again.
The audience was interactive with our panellists who did a great job jumping from the technical to the "heart and artistic" areas of the breed… very suggestive and improving.
Some people travelled from great distances to be with us to share their love for the future of the breed.
We all love our breed but attending the World Congress means to love the future of the breed as well. We are all concerned and feel the responsibility of what we carry on to the next generation of breeders.
We were glad to welcome many Italian Judges of the breed that joined us and shared this experience.
You are probably wondering if The Congress answered the big question… Is our Afghan Hound a "HUNTING MACHINE OR A BEST IN SHOW MACHINE"? Well I can say that unfortunately few "élite" of fanciers are still convinced that our Afghan is a hunting machine, or at least have this concept in mind when considering the breed. However, from my observations, the majority of the world fanciers think of the Afghan Hound as a Best in Show machine. I noticed it by looking outside the congress meeting room and watching the large number of people focused on grooming, bathing and making their potential BIS winner ready for the Specialty of the day. Then comparing them to the much smaller group of people who were discussing how functional the breed characteristics are to have a hunting machine…
For the very first time an International Afghan Hound Committee has been elected! The 3 official members and 2 "reserve" members have a lot of hard work and planning ahead of them.
The three members are Mr Ulf Jorgensen from Denmark, Mr Michael Canalizo from the USA and Mr. Willem Buitenkamp from The Netherlands. The two "reserve" members are Mrs Cinzia Aymaretti Camia from Italy and Ms Iren Naarits from Estonia.
We send the best wishes to them.
The Congress accepted the nomination of Holland for the 9th World Afghan Hound Congress that will be held in 2018.
In closing I would again like to thank the Panellists for studying and developing the Congress speeches. Ulf Jorgensen who trusted us in promoting the event in Italy. Our sponsors, Purina Proplan, Laser Lites Australia, Taku Boutique, Acqua Fonte S. Antonio, Azienda Agricola Bottarelli del Garda and the Italian Kennel Club (ENCI), who believed in our effort and supported our work to build a spectacular event.
The AIALA's Board of Directors: Luigi Durando, Cristina Leonardi, Agnese della Rocca, Simonetta Ghioni and Elena Bergamini for planning and preparing the event with me. Stefano Marelli for his great job as moderator, Lara Rigato for helping in translations and Jessica Sola for working on the beautiful web-site.
Looking forward to seeing everyone in 2018!
Roberto Bongiovanni
