Mr de Santiago, the last WDS organised in Italy was organised precisely here, in Milan, in 2000. What is different today?

Italy, the Ente Nazionale della Cinofilia Italiana and Milan have stood out over the years for holding wonderful dog shows, which have been well-organised and managed to attract the best dogs in the world along with their owners, so holding the FCI World Dog Show in Milan is practically a guarantee of success.

It’s easy to be attracted to the city due to the region’s incredible culture, tourism and gastronomy and if we add a world dog show to all of that nobody’s going to need much persuading to visit Milan.

The 2015 FCI World Dog Show was a wonderful event, the technical organisation was excellent, and there were superb pavilions and rings which attracted thousands of aficionados and dog lovers from all over the world. As you walked around the pavilions you could feel the enthusiasm of the thousands of visitors, just as you could feel the love for dogs and canine sports.

This year’s FCI World Dog Show in Milan incorporated innovative elements which benefit the ENCI, the FCI and dog lovers in general. By incorporating the social networks and live online broadcasting, we managed to bring the event to thousands of people all over the world.

I was very pleased to see that young people played a crucial part in the development of the show. There were hundreds of young volunteers, ring assistants, ushers and technicians – amongst others – to be seen all over the place, working all through the long days. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the ENCI for supporting the FCI Youth; as a result of their support, this major FCI initiative did some notable and important work at the World Dog Show.

And what has remained the same?

It’s nice to see that the most important things haven’t changed. The quality of organisation, quality of the dogs and spirit of competition in Italy have always been admirable, and I’m sure this’ll always be the case.

On the other hand, we always find some things which are very distinctively Italian. There's always good music, decorative details and culture to be enjoyed at international dog shows in Italy and I’m sure that’s something that won’t change in the future.

What is different in dog shows organised in Italy? Is there anything like “the latin touch”?

The thing that makes shows in Italy stand out is the enthusiasm and energy of the exhibitors and breeders who always enter their best breeds and dogs for the consideration of the judges and the enjoyment of the general public.

The other thing about which there can be no doubt is that these are shows where Italian culture runs through everything.

What do you think of the connection with the 2015 Expo Milano?

The 2015 Expo Milano is an incredible, majestic event and it’s important to everyone. In the space of just a month the 2015 Expo Milano drew three million people from all over the world. The holding of the FCI’s 2015 World Dog Show as part of the 2015 Expo Milano meant that they complemented one another.

Thousands of dog lovers had an opportunity to visit the Expo and come into contact with a subject which is vitally important to humanity – the sustainability of our food supply. In turn, visitors to the Expo were attracted by the thousands of dogs taking part in the World Dog Show.

How did you find the entertainment on the honour ring?

I’ve always thought that dogs are part of our culture. This is something which all the world’s cultures share and the recent world dog show was an example of this. Presenting artistic shows in the ring of honour shows us how dogs can be incorporated into culture.

The presentation of classic and modern artistic shows successfully showed Italy off as one of the world’s cultural epicentres - it was a celebration of Italian culture which will be remembered for many years to come.

Any comment on the Junior BIS you selected on Sunday?

Judging the BIS Junior at the World Dog Show was a genuine honour, and I'm grateful that the ENCI entrusted me with such an important task.

The main reason for judging is to choose the dog which best represents its standard. When you’ve got ten dogs which all do so, the judge has a much harder job when it comes to choosing just four positions.

Not only did the winning Saluki show that it is an excellent specimen, its very presence in the ring showed that it enjoyed being there - you can’t help noticing when a dog is enjoying competing.

Thank you, Mr de Santiago, for this interview!

Interview: Marie Luna Durán
FCI Marketing and Public Relations Manager