Gas bombs at the World Dog Show 2005 in Buenos Aires

Concerning the gas bomb at the World Dog Show in Buenos Aires there are a lot of rumors going around the world. This is what I and other reporters there have experienced and found out. No dogs died at all or were harmed by the gas. I don't know about a fight with the judge, but their was a fight between two handlers. There was a lot of panic, but all the people helped each other to bring out the dogs and people. The gas, used by the people does not infect dogs or horses as it is used at demonstrations on the street. I can tell you it hurts a lot to people (to me too), but I could not see any dog with any kind of problems. All by all there was panic and people rushed out to the streets. Fortunately only 7 people went to the hospital. Many handlers needed to look for their dogs, but the committee arranged a rescue area for unidentified dogs and all dogs were found again later.

People were really concerned and helped to get the dogs out ASAP and as they did not know who they were lots of dogs were supposed stolen or dead right after the attract. This was a first reaction to many people and handlers, but after some time of looking around and finding their dogs back in the rescue area they were all well and alive. The committee took measures against the club and managed to get the judgments to continue after the police declared everything safe again. This took 4 hours.

I must say that this is not a problem of the committee but of only a few unresponsible handlers who can be considered as terrorist. But the Argentina dog show was very good, the people were very nice and the committee very efficient. The all cried at the press conference and felt so ashamed of what had happened. They worked so hard for two years, especially the last months and were so tired and then this happened. It was very emotional. This could have happened in every country.

The press had a splendid Press Room available with a big buffet every day and drinks, internet and even lockers! Every day there was a press conference and the interaction with the committee was excellent. Marcella Nestler was indicated to be our Press Officer and was really devoted to her job. The only minor point was the Main ring that was very long and rectangle and everything happened far away from us while we were sitting on the other hand. This made it difficult for taking pictures of the dogs while judging. We were allowed into the main ring and the results were every day on internet. An example for many other shows. Adolf Cabane and myself have had a speech before BIS in order to thank the committee for their efforts for us.

The incident was nothing that the committee deserved and notwithstanding the fact that the incident started already on Saturday, measurements were taken to prevent further incidents as a lot of extra security was provided at the Dogo Argentina ring, but nobody could predict that some unresponsible dangerous man could go so far as to throw gas bombs in a crowded area and create such a panic. Even with 100 security people extra, this would have had the very same reaction. This was an act of one person and a few of his friends only and we can only hope that justice will be done and that this man will end in jail for many years as this could have resulted in serious casualties and even deaths.

Karl Donvil Photographer and WDPA President karl@123dog.net www.123dog.net World Dog Press Association Doornstraat 6 3370 BOUTERSEM BELGIUM tel: 00 32 16733055 fax: 00 32 16733055

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