Meet Newton, the 2017 Best in Show

After hours of competition across seven canine classes, Newton the Brussels Griffon took home Best in Show at the 2017 National Dog Show. The four-legged furries gathered in Oaks, Pennsylvania, last weekend and the show was broadcast Thanksgiving afternoon on NBC.

To read more on this story, click here: Meet Newton, the 2017 Best in Show




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Three-Year-Old Irish Setter, Jagger, a Canine Competitor Died a Day After Taking Part in Crufts Dog Show - Autopsy Indicates He Was Poisoned

A canine competitor died the day after taking part in Crufts, one of the world's most prestigious dog shows. An autopsy indicates he was poisoned. An investigation is underway.

Three-year-old Irish setter Thendara Satisfaction, known as Jagger, took second prize in his class at the event in Birmingham, central England, on Thursday.

The next day later, after returning home to Belgium, he became ill.

Owner-breeder Dee Milligan-Bott told CNN Jagger was "finding it hard to breathe" so a veterinarian was called, but the dog died before he could get there.

"The vet thought it was suspicious, and decided on an autopsy. Cubes of beef  were found in his stomach They had at least two types of poison inside. The pieces of beef had been stitched together so that the poison didn't come out.

According to the vet, he had enough poison in his system to kill a horse.

Milligan-Bott, who is at a loss to explain why Jagger was targeted: "We can't fathom why anyone would do this."

"I've been doing this for 30-odd years and I think I would have to give up on everything if I believed that someone who shows and breeds dogs would kill a dog. We all do this because we love dogs. If you hate me for being successful, then stick a brick through my window or something. But why would you involve a dog?"

Toxicology tests are being carried out. The vet has reported the dog's death to Belgian police, and Milligan-Bott said she would likely contact West Midlands Police in the UK too.

A spokesperson for the Kennel Club, organizers of the Crufts dog show, said there had never been such an incident in the history of the competition, which dates back to 1891.

"We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear this terrible news and our heartfelt sympathies go out to Jagger's owners," said Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club, in a statement.

"We understand that a toxicology report is due next week and that this matter has been reported to the police - we will work with them and help however we can."

What are your thoughts?



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Samoyed Dog Dies After Competing in Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show - May Have Been Poisoned

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show that aired earlier this month made headlines by crowning an affenpinscher as Best in Show for the first time ever, is back in the headlines today after the unexpected death of another competitor.

Cruz, a 3-year-old Samoyed who was competing in his first Westminster this year, died Feb. 16 while competing in another dog show in Colorado, just four days after the Westminster competition ended. Both the dog's co-owner, Lynette Blue, and his handler, Robert Chaffin, suspect the dog was poisoned.

"We have gone through all the steps of where he was, what was done, and he was always on a leash," Blue, 67, who has co-owned Cruz since birth and has raised and shown the fluffy, snow-white breed of dogs since the 1960s, told ABC News today. "He was never outside. He was always with the handler."

Cruz, short for his show name, GCH CH Polar Mist Cruz'N T'Party At Zamosky D, was competing at the 18th Annual Rocky Mountain Cluster Dog Show in Denver when he became sick, vomiting blood. Chaffin, his handler of over one year, who was also at the Westminster, took him to an emergency veterinary clinic, where he later died of internal hemorrhaging. The dog was cremated and a necropsy was not performed.

The internal hemorrhaging, along with vomiting blood, could be a symptom of rodenticide, or rat poisoning, according to medical experts.

Blue said the manager of the hotel where the Cruz and Chaffin stayed in New York told her the facility does not use rat poisoning. The dog, who was ranked seventh in the nation among Samoyeds, according to Grand Championship Points issued by the American Kennel Club, was also not walked outside or in any of the city's parks, Blue said, which could have been sprayed with rat poison during his stay in New York.

But according to Dr. Tony Johnson, a clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine, Cruz's symptoms of internal bleeding and eventual death could also be attributed to natural causes such as cancer.

"Two of the things that will cause bleeding in the abdomen are cancer and rat poisoning and people often attribute it to poisoning as opposed to cancer," he said. "We see a lot of dogs that have bleeding in their abdomen due to cancer so that is a possibility."

Johnson added that it is "not an uncommon scenario" for an animal to not have an autopsy done, "but in the absence of a toxicology or pathology report," as in Cruz's case, "it becomes speculation," he said.

Blue said the only time Cruz was not being watched by Chaffin while in New York was when the dog was "benched" at Westminster, a time when the dogs are required to stay in an assigned area with other owners and breeders.

Cruz's handler, Chaffin, whom Blue says she "absolutely" does not suspect was involved in Cruz's death, is convinced that the dog was poisoned and said there was a four-hour window during which the dog could have been poisoned, but not by a competitor. Instead, Chaffin said he is suspicious of an animal rights activist he encountered at the dog show who "was just scowling at me and telling me how cruel I was."

"All of our competitors in the breed are good people," Chaffin told ABC News. "I don't think it was someone in the dog world. There are lots of crazy people out there."

A representative for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) which has sent people to Westminster in past years, brushed aside Chaffin's suspicion that an "animal rights activist" could have been responsible for Cruz's death.

"The accusation is ludicrous and he hasn't even identified the person as an animal rights activist," Lisa Lange, senior vice president at PETA told ABC News. "It was someone at the dog show who criticized him."

Blue said the show provides dog owners the option to hire security guards during their stay in New York, a sign that "it could be a dangerous situation." The owner was more open, however, to the possibility of other motivations.

"It could be some crazies or some animal rights fanatics," she said. "Or it's always possible he was a top-winning dog, so it's always possible, those things have happened -- that other people in the dog show world try to knock out top competition. ... You just don't know."

Westminster, in a statement issued to ABC News today, said, "We have never, to our knowledge, had an incident at our show where a dog has become ill or was harmed as a result of being poisoned.

"We are ultra cautious to the point where we do not allow dogs to be off lead at any time while at our show," the statement read. "Unfortunately, no autopsy was performed, so there are a lot of unanswered questions. No other animal which attended our show was reported to our show veterinarians with any incident of serious illness. We have been made aware that no rodent poison is used at the Piers and pest control is maintained through trapping."

Cruz, who did not place at Westminster, held the designation of "Grand Champion," a title given to dogs earning a total of 25 points with three major wins at other shows. Cruz had competed in at least 30 other dog shows over the past year, according to Blue.

After Cruz's death, the owner of a fellow competitive dog, not in Cruz's breed, came forward to offer a $2,000 reward for "any information that could lead to the arrest of the person who might of done this to Cruz," calling the possible poisoning a "worst nightmare."

Blue said she filed a complaint with the New York Police Department last week but is still awaiting a follow up call from the agency. A representative for the NYPD told ABC News it can find no record of a complaint filed by Blue.

"People just need to know they need to be aware of where their dogs are," said Blue. "This thing has just left a hole in my heart. It has taken some of the joy and fun out of showing and raising dogs. It's something I'll never get over."



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