Cockers rescued from the "kennel of shame"

Sadly the following is not a fluffy kitten tale or a cute puppy one. Nor is it one likely to go viral on the Net. Instead it's an all too common occurrence especially in the weird and not-so-wonderful world that is dog breeding.

Just one of the 152 cockers (screenshot from video of the rescue)

They call it "the kennel of shame" in their report detailing what animal inspectors discovered when they arrived at the home of a dog breeder in the village of Peyrat-le-Château in the west-central département of Haute-Vienne shortly before Christmas.

And surely the charity Fondation 30 millions d'amis used exactly the right term in describing the deplorable conditions in which they found 152 English cockers spaniels living.

Cockers living in a car (screenshot from video of the rescue)

Rather than the active, good-natured and merry bundles of fun that characterise the breed, inspectors encountered undernourished and often sick dogs locked in cars and caravans or crammed into a 12 square metre chalet.

Many of the dogs were starving and had no access to fresh water.

"One bitch had a severed leg" reported the Fondation. "Some of the dogs even had their eyes gouged out".

After the rescue the dogs were taken to nearby animal shelters where, according to one volunteer Martine Attali, it could take many of them at least a month to be brought back to a condition in which they can be found new homes.

"They are weak and dehydrated and require emergency care," she said.

Although undoubtedly a "success" for the Fondation in its efforts to campaign against "all forms of animal suffering", the rescue of the cockers will hardly leave it rejoicing as a brief look at its site reveals that, even though the numbers of dogs involved was perhaps unusually high, this is far from being an isolated case.

And the maximum penalty it can expect as a result of the breeder being prosecuted?

"A fine of €30,000 and two years imprisonment (under article 521-1 of the penal code)," reports the Fondation.

"And maybe a lifelong ban from keeping animals."

A pitiful story made all the more unpalatable by the comparatively paltry maximum sentence that can be handed down in such a case.

The Fondation is a charity created in 1995 and is a spin-off from a hugely successful television programme of the same name.

Yet another Miss France

Ah the wonderful world of beauty pageants.

Just when you think everything has been said that could be on the subject, along comes another twist to the tale.

Perhaps you remember that France currently has two elected national beauty Misses; the official one known as Miss France (how original) Laury Thilleman and her rival Miss Nationale Barbara Morel.

For a detailed explanation as to how that came about you can click here.

But for the Twitterers among you who prefer bite-sized chunks;

"Organiser of Miss France contest since way back when gets uppity with company who bought rights for official competition and does her own thing."

How many characters is that?

Never mind.

Back to the breaking - er perhaps broken - news of the past couple of days.

There's yet another Miss France - the third in less than a month.

Screenshot of interview with Mathilde Florin, November 2010 - Dailymotion video

She's 21-year-old Mathilde Florin from the north of France and was a runner-up in the Miss Flandres 2009 competition, when the world of beauty pageants and tiaras seemed a much simpler affair here in France.

Florin was another elected in Paris on December 19 by le Comité Miss France historique, a committee established in 1954 and the sole body, it claims, with the right to choose a Miss who can be called Miss France.

While Florin will not be joining Thilleman in the Miss World and Universe jamborees, or Morel at...well to be honest nobody really seems to be very sure where Morel will be headed after becoming Miss Nationale...she does have a couple of international dates lined up as the new Miss France er, let's say "mark II" for the sake of clarification.

There's the heady heights of representing her country at Miss World University, which is held in the South Korean capital, Seoul, every year.

And she'll be hotfooting it along to the Philippines to take part in yet another contest, this time Miss Earth.

Reactions to the third Miss (France) to be crowned in just one month include, from the celebrity gossip site News de Stars, "Perhaps as in boxing there'll be a reunification bout so that just one woman holds all three titles."

And the comment from Cosmopolitan France that "At this rate, there'll soon be more Misses than cheeses here in France."


miss mathilde florin
envoyé par IndicateurdesFlandres. - L'info internationale vidéo.

The Dakar rally, the former beauty queen and French TV

What happens when two French institutions "meet"?

Easy. You get one - a former Miss France - commentating on another - the Paris-Dakar.

And all hell has been let loose among sports journalists miffed, thinking that they've been passed over for the job.

Screenshot from official promo video, Dakar 2011

That annual real life version of the television cartoon Wacky Races - aka The Dakar (formerly Paris-Dakar) - hasn't yet got underway, but already it's providing plenty of what the French seem to love so much, "polemic".

At the heart of the furore is a former beauty queen, Élodie Gossuin, Miss France 2001 and Miss Europe in the same year.

No the 30-year-old is not going to don a helmet rather than a coronet.

Instead the powers that be at France Television have decided that she should join the commentary team during the Rally which begins on January 1; an appointment that certainly hasn't been to everyone's liking.

So much so that it quickly became apparent that all was not well among sports journalists at France Television and initial reports after the announcement was made suggested that five of them belonging to la société des journalistes du service des sports, or the sports desk if you will, along with their president, Nicolas Vinoy, and spokesman Gérard Holtz, had resigned in protest.

"The position of consultant during the Paris-Dakar was a coveted one," it was reported.

It wasn't apparently Gossuin per se to whom they objected but the way her appointment had been made.

As it turned out, only Vinoy had handed in his notice and that was "nothing to do with the arrival of Gossuin," according to Daniel Bilalian, the director of sports at France Television, suggesting that there were other problems among the team that had been "brought to a head" by the appointment.

"Élodie Gossuin has already participated in Andros Trophy (the French national ice racing championships) and she's familiar with motorsports," he said.

"She's welcome to the team covering the Dakar, and I wanted her to be a part of it."

With Gossuin the subject of both the sports and celebrity pages of newspapers, it wasn't long of course before journalists turned their attention to how she felt about the "polemic" (yes there's that word again).

"It has been very unpleasant and I wish it had happened differently," she told Europe 1 national radio.

"These are internal problems that don't concern me," she added.

"I have no pretensions of wanting to call myself a journalist, I'm just going to be a consultant."

And that means, according to Holtz, who is also one of the race commentators, "adding colour" to the event by "spending time with doctors and cooks" rather than reporting directly on the rally itself; for which even she admits she isn't qualified.

This year's Dakar begins on January 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and if it is nearly half as lively as the pre-rally build-up has been so far, it should be more than entertaining.