Pigeon and Poultry Classes Cancelled

The organisers of the region's largest annual farming and rural event, The Great Yorkshire Show, have announced that the pigeon and poultry classes will not be held at the 2006 event. The Show runs from Tuesday 11 – Thursday 13 July and takes place at the showground at Harrogate. Classes for pigeons would have been held on the Wednesday with the poultry section on the final day.

Making the announcement, Bill Cowling, Honorary Show Director said the decision had been taken with great reluctance, but with the interests of exhibitors and the industry as a whole in mind, given the concerns regarding Avian flu.

He commented: "Sadly we have decided that we will not be going ahead with the pigeon and poultry classes. We have been monitoring the situation for a number of months and took the decision after speaking to our vets. We feel it would not be in the best interests of exhibitors to go ahead, and indeed we would not want to do anything which may compromise the bio-security of commercial flocks.

"Naturally we are all disappointed as the classes are an important element of the show as a whole but feel it is better to make the decision now rather than plan to go ahead and have to cancel at a later stage."