FCI in transition

We are living in a changeable world. Politically the last 25 years have been characterised by very big changes: New countries have emerged, others have dissolved and new state formations have appeared.

This has of course affected the FCI and our whole organisation. We have become many more members and before long we will probably pass a total of 100 full member countries, associated countries and contract partners. And not many years ago we were “only” 70 countries.
As most people will know, our statutes are based on the principle “one country – one vote” and this principle will surely be challenged in the coming years, as the rapid increase in the number of members with a lot of quite small kennel clubs is diluting the influence of the large and middle-sized countries; those countries that pay for almost the entire running of the FCI (the 5 largest contributors pay more than 1/3 of the total income of the FCI).

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Jørgen Hindse
Interview with Laurent Pichard

Mr Pichard, it is the last day of the show, is it a relief that everything went pretty well?

Honestly I think that it is getting better and better every day. The first day was a training show for my team and we have improved the entrance and veterinary control from day to day.


© Karl Donvil
Laurent Pichard

What was the biggest problem you had to solve during the show?

It was the communication with the Russian people, they have a different approach, pay cash etc. But no major problems.


How better was the show than you had expected? I suppose you must be happy?

My expectations were high, but yes I am happy because we’ve been working hard. I was lucky to find the right people at the right time to help. I was also very happy with the entries. People enter so late now that when we arrived mid-July I was thinking “my God what am I going to do if we don’t have enough?” I didn’t want to have the smallest European Show ever. I am surprised because we had a lot of difference between the first entry fee and the last one. People are complaining that it is so expensive but the first deadline was a very reasonable fee, still they didn’t use it! You have in the dog world 80% of very nice people but the other 20% are very demanding. The 80% are no problem and are happy, but the 20% of demanding people are never happy. They want to change the club, the rules, they call you at 8 o’clock in the morning for the most stupid reasons. And sometimes it is very difficult to be polite. I think I’m quite good in that but within limits.


How was the national Press response?

Exceptional, we spent a lot of money to attract people. We had newspapers, television, 4 radio stations, even front pages. We were lucky that nothing special happened in the world so they could give more attention to the show.


I heard you had a lot of help from people from other countries.

Yes, we had a lot of help from my friends from all over the world and they did a fantastic job.


Holiday now or more work to come?

I am judging next weekend, so no vacation.


Interview by Karl Donvil