Dog world revolutionary and television personality Wayne Cavanaugh who was scheduled to give a lecture today at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) for the Bermuda All Breed dog club was last night not expected to be able to reach the Island in time.

The dog show judge and has been an American Kennel Club (AKC) president, was last night understood to be grounded in transit due to weather conditions.

Attendees are asked to contact the Bermuda All Breed Club for further details.

Mr. Cavanaugh is the owner of the United Kennel Club (UKC), and a frequent host of animal television programmes, particularly the on the Animal Planet channel.

He is a third-generation dog fancier. His grandfather bred Kerry Blue Terriers, and his father bred English Setters and Beagles. Mr. Cavanaugh has bred show and field titled English Setters, English Pointers and Beagles. In Bermuda, he will be speaking on the topic: "The Future of Purebred Dogs."

The Royal Gazette spoke to Mr. Cavanaugh on Thursday at his home in Kalamazoo, Michigan via telephone. There was a foot and a half of snow where he lived and he was curled up with one of his beagles. He said he was looking forward to coming to Bermuda. He talked a bit about how he came to own the United Kennel Club, one of the first dog clubs to be sold in over 100 years. He admitted that when he was first offered the UKC, he wasn't interested.

"It was in the previous owner's family since 1898," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "He was going through a messy divorce and had no heirs he wished to pass the UKC on to. He was familiar with my work and asked me if I was interested. I wasn't interested. I was writing for Animal Planet, retired and living on the Jersey Shore and doing television appearances."

But later it occurred to Mr. Cavanaugh that he could use the UKC to change the dog world.

"I thought, what if we could have a registry that can make a difference and really embrace events as a way to get dogs off the street," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "What if I could use it to encourage people to adopt animals from shelters and allow dogs that have been spayed or neutered? The other dog clubs only allow dogs that haven't been spayed or neutered."

His idea caused a lot of controversy in the dog world. His financial advisor wasn't too impressed either.

"He said: 'Your business model appears that you are going to put yourself out of business immediately'," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "If you encourage neutering, you won't get new members from the puppies of current members."

He bought the UKC against a backdrop of falling dog club membership. He said that American Kennel Club (AKC) purebred dog registrations dropped from 1.4 million in 1996 to 800,000 ten years later.

"I was convinced that by doing the right thing you attract more of the right kind of people who really care," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "It did cause controversy at first. I had nothing to lose. I was fine. I didn't need this business. I figured, if it worked it worked, if not, oh well. My other passion is making guitars by hand. I figured if it didn't work, I'd just go back to the barn and make more guitars."

The guitar making had to wait as Mr. Cavanaugh's caught fire. He decided that the UKC would put an emphasis on dog health and agility as well as what the dog looked like. The UKC holds shows but the dogs also have to compete in athletic events before they can get a prize for conforming to breed standard. It also holds a lot of fun events, the newest of which is dock jumping. Membership in the UKC has been increasingly annually for the last eight years.

"The other big difference with our events is you have to bring your own dog," he said. "We don't allow paid handlers. We want people to have fun, and not emphasise dire cutthroat competition."

The UKC events are meant to be a bonding experience between the dog and its owner. But Mr. Cavanaugh said the UKC was meant to be an alternative to the more highbrow dog clubs, not a replacement. "I still compete in other registry events and enjoy them all," he said.

"I want people to have options. If they feel competitive they can enter an AKC event, and if they want to put on blue jeans and have fun, they can enter one of our events. it they want to go to the AKC thats great, and the next week if they want to come to us, that's also great."

While in Bermuda, Mr. Cavanaugh will talk about the future of pure bred dogs, dog health and breeding science.

"There are purebred snobs who think hybrid dogs are the end of the world," said Mr. Cavanaugh. "I don't want one but I will come to their defence. From a historical and political point of view I will discuss why it happens. My statement is that purebred dogs are a very brief and short experiment in the larger scheme of human science.

There is no such thing as a purebred dog. Of all the breeds we have now in all of the world, eighty percent of them were not here 100 years ago. This is a very brief experiment in genetics. People who have and breed them never take seriously enough how important their role is."

He said there is a lot of new science to talk about including disease control, cloning and more. Mr. Cavanaugh feels there should be more emphasis put on the health and fitness of the dog and less on its physical appearance.

"If we keep breeding dogs to extremes we will lose different breeds," he said. "When every single bull dog has to be produced by c-section, is that nature's way? The breed standard is the Holy Grail, but our forefathers never heard of Westminster. They bred dogs to catch rats, or herd sheep, for example. They bred for a focus and a purpose. I'm not saying we should have bull baiting with bulldogs anymore, but if you look at the old paintings and the photographs, bulldogs were used for work. They had longer legs, they had smaller heads and were more athletic and weren't being produced by c-section. Who gave us the right to change the standard to a monstrosity that can't walk?"

The lecture will be at the BUEI at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 for Bermuda All Breed Club members and $30 for non-members and available from Pulp & Circumstance, Endsmeet Animal Hospital, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and at the door. Telephone Bermuda All Breed Club president Marie-Claire Onabowale for more information at 799-9979.