25th February 2022

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Following up on last week’s notes I mentioned the passing of Isobel Davey.  Anne Macdonald has kindly sent me the following: 

“I first met Wing Cdr Robin and Mrs Isobel Davey round about 1986-87 when Hope Waters suggested that their dog  Burydown QAhim Qahim would be a good match to mate with my Ch Diena of Mabrooka. He was a B/t out of Ch B. Jehan sired by Ann Birrells  Ch Classicus Baccilydes of Tazi.  Unfortunately, we got no puppies.

As far as I know, they have always had Salukis but never been very involved with the show scene, only attending some of the breed club shows in the early days.  I know when I started in the breed in the 70’s they had a Burydown dog and bitch from Hope and also a Tazi bitch from Ann Birrell.

Several years later about 1996 I had a litter from Ch Mabrooka Miraya and ran on a puppy dog but although he was a handsome dog and had much to like. I decided he was not going to be a star in the show ring so deserved a good home. where he could get more love and attention.   I can’t recall how it came about but the Davey’s got in touch with me and we exchanged photos and they decided they would like to have him.  So, we agreed for him to go to them where he lived a long and happy life. Since that time, I have kept in touch each Christmas but haven’t seen either of them for quite some time now.”
Our sympathy to her husband Robin and their family.
 
In a fortnight we shall be attending Crufts.  It has been a long wait.  Salukis are being judged on the Friday (11th March). Our judge is Adele Walton-Haddon.  They will be in hall 5, ring 25 at 10.30.  We have an entry of 30 dogs and 36 bitches making a total of 66.  Masha Shaverneva and Altai will be competing in the Main Ring, first dog to go over the agility course at 9am.  We wish them the best of luck, Altai is probably the first Saluki to have qualified to compete at Crufts. 
 
Laboklin, the lab we use for NCL testing is offering a 10% discount on all DNA test submitted at Crufts.  If you have not had your dog tested this is a good time to take advantage of the offer.  Hopefully they will have DNA kits there so you can do it then and there.  
 
I have written before about my concerns regarding the large conglomerates that are buying up as many of the private veterinarian surgeries as they can.  One of the most ambitious companies is CVS.  They state that they have over 500 practices in UK, Netherlands and Republic of Ireland.  With a revenue of £510.1million .    They have done very well for themselves during the lockdown with more people acquiring pets, therefore more need for veterinarian assistance.  CVS has launched a bid to purchase ‘The Vet’.
 
On the Government website I have found the following:  
 “The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) opened its investigation into CVS Group’s purchase of Quality Pet Care, which trades as The Vet, in December last year. Both firms are providers of veterinary services, with CVS Group owning 467 practices in the UK, while The Vet operates 8 practices across England.
Recent reports indicate that there are 17 million pet-owning homes across the UK, with consumer expenditure on vets and other services for pets in the UK estimated to be around £4 billion between July 2020 and June 2021. In recent years, the ownership of vets’ practices across the UK has changed, with many practices being acquired by a small number of corporate groups, such as CVS. While independent veterinary practices accounted for 89% of the UK industry in 2013, this share had fallen to less than half (45%) by 2021, primarily as a result of independent practices being bought by corporate groups.
Following its Phase 1 investigation into CVS’s acquisition of The Vet, the CMA has found that the merger raises competition concerns in 5 local areas – Bristol, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Southampton and Warrington.
The CMA’s investigation found that the combined businesses would account for a significant proportion of veterinary services in each of these areas. While veterinary practices owned by CVS and The Vet currently compete for customers at each of these locations, the CMA is concerned that the combined businesses would not face sufficient competition after the merger. This could lead to pet owners facing a worse quality of service, including more limited treatment options, or having to pay higher prices.”
On the recommendations of others, I caught up with the BBC 2 television program ‘Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby’.    It was presented by Giles Coren and Monica Galetti.  At this point I would like to state that if I am having a dinner party, I definitely would like these two people to attend with the stipulation that Monica does the cooking.  The program was definitely a feast.  In this week’s program they visited Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort in The Empty Quarter of Abu Dhabi.  The hotel is situated in the world’s largest sand sea.  Roughly the size of France and very, very hot.  It is a very swanky hotel/spa.  The ethos of the hotel is to uncover the spirit of the desert and the desert people, the Bedouins.  Part of this spirit was the camels, which were in beautiful condition, they explained that they were ex-racing camels living their retirements out at this hotel.  In actuality they were only partially retired as they had to take day trippers out into the desert.  The highlight of the program were the Salukis, which were all in beautiful condition.  It was Monica’s job to feed them, then take them on one of their two walks into the desert.  The Saluki keeper, for want of a better word. explained and demonstrated the webbing on the Saluki foot.  He also described the musculation in their thighs where the speed and strength of the Salukis came from.  There were scenes of hotels visitors stroking the dogs.  A