Does size matter?犬展规模的影响

dogshow-editor 2017年11月2日专栏热评962 浏览

Does size matter?犬展规模的影响

There are two main distinctions between the dog show scene here in the UK and Its equivalent in the USA. These are closely related one to the other. The first is the size of the shows in terms of number of dogs entered – particularly at events at which championship qualifying awards are available. The secondhand directly related point, is the number of shows. I am usually chided by certain American dog people when I mention the fact that even our average sized championship show is far bigger than the biggest show in the USA，as far as the number of dogs entered is concerned. I am constantly reminded, and quite rightly, that the greater number of dog shows in the USA means that the overall number of entries in the USA is probably just as great per head of population as it is in the UK.It is, they always explain, just that the size of the shows is smaller because of the larger number of events and greater frequency. My response to that is to ask what is preferable – a large number of small shows or a small number of large shows?

英国与美国的犬展主要有两点不同，而这两点又息息相关。一是犬展规模不同，即按照参赛犬只的数量决定，尤其是角逐冠军展的犬只数量。二是犬展举办场数。就参赛犬只数量来说，英国普通规模的犬展也比美国最大规模的犬展要大得多。每当我提及此事，总会遭到美国一些爱狗人士的反驳。我一直在陈述一个很正确的事实，美国每年举办的大量犬展意味着美国总体参加犬展的人数相当于英国的人口数量。美国一些爱狗人士一般这样解释，犬展规模小是由于犬展的场数多，频率高。因此我很好奇，场数多的小型犬展和少数的大型犬展哪一个更好？

And whose fault is it that certain shows are becoming smaller and smaller, some to the point of extinction?

另外，某些地方的犬展却逐渐走向衰败，甚至消失，这又归咎于谁呢？

It was therefore interesting to read Sari Brewster Tietjen’s Tell It Like It. Is’ article in DN Magazine on July 1 headed Drumbeat.In it she bemoaned the fact that the AKC seems intent on allowing more and more shows and says in her opening remarks: We have been beating the drumbeat for a number of years that there are too many dog shows, shows which have become so diluted in the number of entries that majors and/or significant points are few and far between, and that many of the existing shows have gained a reputation of being handler shows.

Sari Brewster Tietjen She goes on to say that the number of shows in some areas is so great that people have five choices of which to attend and that the average size of all-breed shows is now around 700 dogs.

Sari Brewster Tietjen 在DN 杂志6月期刊的广告版面中发表了一篇名为‘发扬犬展，喜欢犬展’的文章。阅读这篇文章十分有趣。文章中提到，AKC似乎有意举办更多犬展，对此她感到惋惜。她公开表示，多年来，我们已经为宣扬犬展做了大量的广告，然而真正具有意义的犬展已经变得稀少。她说，有些地区举办了非常成功的犬展，参赛者有自由选择的空间，普通规模的犬展参赛犬只控制在大约700只以内。

SURPRISING FACTS事实总是令人惊讶

let us look some of the facts which make the differences between the USA and the UK look even more surprising than you would have thought.They also explain some of the reasons for the differences in show sizes.

我们可以发现，美国与英国之间的差异甚至超出你的想象，同样有人认为犬展规模是其根本原因。

First of all let us think of the relative human population sizes of the two countries. The USA’s population is over 320 million with the equivalent UK population at around 4 million. That gives a ratio whereby the USA is some five times the size of the UK in terms of population. But when it comes to the physical size of the two countries the contrasts are even greater. The USA is over thirty times bigger than the UK in terms of its area in square miles. I always remind people that the Boston/Washington corridor alone is rather similar to the UK in size of population and area. Comparing the UK to the USA is therefore very dangerous.

首先让我们从两国人口出发。美国的人口超过3.2亿，英国的人口约为6500万，美国的人口是英国的五倍。但是，当谈到两国的面积时，对比就更大了。按平方英里来算，美国的国土面积是英国的三十倍有余。我总是提醒人们，波士顿/华盛顿人口和地区的规模相似，与英国相当。因此，比较英国和美国也是非常危险的。

All of this is bound to mean that the statistics for dog shows are inevitably very different in the two countries. In the USA there are around 1,500 all breed or group shows per annum at which championship points are available. In the UK the equivalent number is just 38. So there are 40 times more multi breed championship points shows in the USA than there are in the UK. The largest show in the USA last year was the AKC Show in Orlando, Florida with 3,915 dogs. The largest in the UK is Crufts with this year 21,919 individual dogs entered.

这些都意味着两个国家对犬展的统计数据必然有所不同。在美国，每年大约有1,500场全犬种或犬种群犬展，冠军积分有效。而在英国，每年大约只有38场。比例是40:1. 去年美国国模最大的犬展是在佛罗里达州，奥兰多举办的美国国家展，参赛犬只约3915只。今年英国规模最大的犬展当属克鲁夫特犬展，仅个人参赛犬只达21,919只。

The number of USA breed specialty shows is around 3,700 whereas in the UK they number 550.That is a seven times greater ratio – rather nearer to the population difference between the two countries.It is therefore not surprising that the relative size of all-breed shows in the UK is very much greater than in the USA. The average size of UK all- breed championship shows is around 8,000 dogs and for group shows the equivalent is 1,700 dogs.

美国每年举办的单独展大约3,700场，英国大约550场。这是一个7倍的比例，接近两国人口数量的比例。所以英国举办相当规模的全犬种犬展比美国大并不奇怪。英国中等规模的全犬种展大约有8,000只犬只，犬种群展大约有1,700 只。

The impression we get is that the average size of points shows in the USA is declining. In the UK everyone talks as though that is the case here too but this is not so.Up to three years ago certainly, shows had been falling by two or three pet cent a year for a number of years. That trend does thankfully now seem to have been halted. For the last few years entries have been going up but admittedly only very slowly. They were up by 1.1% in2014and1.3%in2015and this year to date they are up by 1.2%.

由此得出，美国普通规模的犬展场数正在减少。而在英国，大家也认为情况相同，但事实并非如此。截止三年前，犬展数量呈现出几年下降2%-3%的趋势，但幸运的是现在这个情形已经有所改变。在过去几年中，报名数一直在上升，尽管上升幅度很小。2014-2015年分别上升了1.1％和1.3％，而今年则上升了1.2％。