A bizarre and bitter feud between the Hungarian government and the Hungarian National Kennel Club (MEOE) – the body that issues pedigree certificates for hounds in Hungary, most notably “foreign breeds” – has apparently been resolved, with the dogs coming out on top.
The standoff began in April, with a change in the law that forced the MEOE to choose between issuing pedigree certificates and holding dog shows like the one pictured above, a key source of revenue for the organization. While a law passed in 1998 officially forbade the MEOE from being both the official arbiter of dog racial purity and organizing public competitions or shows, the recent legislation put teeth into the earlier regulation, in the form of fines of up to HUF 20 million.
Facing ruin, the MEOE turned to the Belgium-based International Federation of Kennel Clubs, which threw its weight behind its Hungarian chapter, publicizing the conflict on its website in four different languages. Meanwhile, other advocates for the rights of international dog breeds jumped in; Popular website Doberman Insider likened the severity of the situation to Hungary’s 1956 Revolution, saying that the government wanted to snatch MEOE’s database of breeding dogs by imposing huge fines and threatening to send in SWAT teams.
Now we see from the above notice just posted on the international federation’s website that the government has apparently backed down, meaning that for the time being, Dobermans and other dogs of non-Hungarian pedigree are safe from the heavy-handed Hungarian government. Now, as for foreign humans…
Eric, please tell everybody about the critical beating that a UAE chess official received at the weekend from 3 undercover policemen in Szeged. Or, everyone Google UAE,Hungary,Chess and eduacate yourself. Last ex-pat out, please turn out the lights.