On the one hand we could tear our hair out (except people like me who haven't got enough to tear out), we can blame DEFRA, blame the Government, blame the weather or indeed blame anybody or anything that we have a mind to because our show season has been devastated by the restrictions which were introduced at the end of October.
Many of our major shows have had to be cancelled and this has caused many problems both for show organisers and for those whose livelihoods are linked to the small livestock show circuit. Believe me, the loss to us as fanciers of being unable to show is paled into insignificance by the financial difficulties being faced by some.
So, someone is to blame and they will have to face the consequences it is threatened! Ridiculous draconian measures, introduced when they were not necessary seems to be the general view, coupled with the opinion that those introducing the measures really have very little knowledge of what goes on in our world and that stopping shows does not make sense when importation and pet shop sales are still allowed.
Then, hey presto, they come along and change the rules, make the licensing conditions much easier and re-classify pigeons as 'low risk'. Had they done this in the first place most of our shows could have met the conditions and gone ahead. As it is those which have not yet been held now have the opportunity to assess their situation and see if they want to resurrect their shows, although I understand that so far (as I write this) only Nottingham have taken positive steps to do so.
So, what a sorry state of affairs and how am I going to make an 'on the other hand' argument out of this! Well, we can either sit and moan about it or pull together as a Fancy for future show seasons. Personally I am delighted with the changes made because I was very fearful that the severe early rules could be in place for a long time and affect not only this show season but future ones as well.
I really could not see how a ban which had been introduced prematurely could be lifted if any risk still remained and as some 'experts' are saying that Avian Flu could be months or even years away from reaching the UK. I really was quite concerned that the entire fabric of our hobby and others would be destroyed.
So, as bad as the short term is, I think there is an 'on the other hand' and that is that we have the chance to re-group and at least move into the breeding season with the belief that next year's youngsters will be shown, unlike many of their 2005 counterparts. It goes without saying that my 2005-bred birds would have won everything and I don't care that hundreds of other fanciers are saying the same thing!
