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111^th CAFIB National Fila Brasileiro Exhibition

4^th CAFIB Fila Brasileiro Exhibition in Cruzeiro, SP

CAFIB's International Exhibition Calendar in 2019, as usual, started in Itanhandu (MG), now breaks the long tradition of closing the year at the Manoel Soares de Azevedo Exhibition Premises, in the São Paulo Municipality of Guaratinguetá, and ends this edition of its World Championship in the city of Cruzeiro, located in the same region. It was there that, in 1981, we began our Phenotype and Temperament Analyses in Vale do Paraíba, later expanded to Aparecida, Cachoeira Paulista, Guaratinguetá, Jacareí, Lorena, Pindamonhangaba, Quatis, Valença, Volta Redonda and so many others. It is worth clearing up that the so-called Vale do Paraíba is a natural geographical accident consisting of a portion of the Paraíba do Sul river basin, which runs from São Paulo, for almost the entire length of the State of Rio de Janeiro, and also for an area of the Minas Gerais State. Therefore, it is not an official IBGE Region, Mesoregion or Microregion. However, the surrounding mountainous formations cover important natural reserves, such as the Serra da Mantiqueira, on the border with Minas Gerais, where some of the highest mountains in Brazil are located and shelters the Parque Nacional de Itatiaia, the oldest in the Country, created in 1937, in lands that had belonged to the Viscount of Mauá and one of the few Brazilian areas where slight snowfall occurs on the harshest winter days; Serra do Mar, with its passageways to the northern coast of the State of São Paulo and whose State Park maintains the largest continuous preserved portion of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil; and Serra da Bocaina, whose rich fauna includes several endangered primate species, as well as the largest ape and largest feline on the American continent: the rare spider monkey (Brachyteles arachnoides), one of the most demanding mammals in habitat structure, and the spotted jaguar (Panthera onca), one of the most stealthy animals in the forests. Interestingly, the spotted jaguar holds the strongest bite record of all felines, twice as powerful as that of the lion and the tiger, and is capable of breaking a turtle's shell and the bones of cattle. It usually hunts large preys, even in the water, such as alligators, giant anacondas and pirarucus, and its extraordinary strength allows it to carry the calves it slaughters to the top of the trees. Regrettably, all of these threatened representatives of the rich Brazilian fauna still continue to be greatly targeted by hunters. Another curiosity is that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (União Internacional para a Conservação da Natureza) has prepared an international ranking of nature's reserves of dozens of countries, by which Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira were ranked 7^th respectively and 8^th among the most irreplaceable protected area locations on the planet. In this list, headed by the Kakadu National Park in Australia, Brazil still ranks 6^th with Parque do Alto Rio Negro and 9^th with the Vale do Javari.

Returning to Cruzeiro, the territory where this municipality is located today - halfway between the two main Brazilian large cities, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, which concentrate much of the country's GDP -, in the time of Colonial Brazil, was part of the old Royal Road, a road that linked the gold mines of Minas Gerais to the Ports of Paraty and Mambucaba, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro State. In the eighteenth century, the present city of Cruzeiro was still a small town, known as Embaú, belonging to the municipality of Lorena, through which, in the past, the expeditions of bandeirantes (explorers) used to pass and whose growth resulted from the planting of many fields to supply food for the numerous drovers and prospectors who traveled this trade route. The urban nucleus had its development sped up by the construction of the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Embaú, which began in 1781, but the city's historical landmark dates from the 1840's. At that time, the widow Fortunata Joaquina do Nascimento, who had inherited the Boa Vista Farm (then with about 900 hectares) from her late husband, Captain Joaquim Ferreira da Silva (murdered in 1837), married Captain Antônio Dias Telles de Castro, a wealthy farmer who took over the property activities and built new headquarters. In 1846, the village surrounding the farm was elevated to the category of parish of Nossa Senhora da Conceição do Embaú, and later on, in 1871, dismembered from Lorena, where it would be founded village Conceição do Cruzeiro, named after the landmark in the shape of a cross on the border between Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Shortly before, in 1868, widow again for the second time, Dona Fortunata, then 65 years old, had now married her property neighbor, Major Manuel de Freitas Novaes, nearly three decades younger than her, a great rural landowner and politically influential in the province of São Paulo, in addition to being friends with emperor Dom Pedro II. Because of this bond, the Major managed to get the railroad project to cross his lands, which now belong to Cruzeiro. At that time, on this railway line between Minas Gerais and São Paulo, just below the famous Embaú Canyon, the Mantiqueira Tunnel was built by the English, almost one kilometer long, considered, at the time, one of the largest engineering works in the Country, worthy of special attention of the Emperor, who inspected the progress of the works and - accompanied by the Royal Family (Dona Tereza Cristina, Princess Izabel, Count D'Eu) as well as Major Novaes himself -, took part in the inaugural trip of the stretch up to Três Corações (MG) in 1884.

Dona Fortunata's third husband, considered the founder of Cruzeiro, in addition to expanding the farm's activities, also reformed and expanded his headquarters, later transformed into the Major Novaes Museum, an institution popularly known as “Dona Tita's House”, and today run by City-Hall.

A curiosity is that in this city the military surrender of the Constitutionalist Army was signed before the Military Army during the Revolution of 1932. Between Cruzeiro and Passa Quatro, important battles were fought and in the region of the Mantiqueira Tunnel and Embau Canyon there was the highest number of deaths in that conflict, among them Captain Manuel de Freitas Novaes Neto, grandson of Major Novaes, founder of the municipality. In 2008, by state law, Cruzeiro received the honorary title of “Capital of the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932”.

As these circulars end up constituting a historical record of CAFIB's trajectory, I repeat here some information contained in the announcement already released about the 2019 World Championship.

The 1^st Phenotype and Temperament Analysis we conducted in Cruzeiro, almost 40 years ago, was organized by José Erestal Martins Penha at Professor Virgílio Antunes de Oliveira Municipal Stadium. Forty-six dogs participated and were analyzed by Airton Campbell, Américo Cardoso dos Santos Jr. and Roberto Maruyama, under the guidance of CAFIB's Master of Breeding, Paulo Santos Cruz. The event was also cared for by the president of CAFIB - Bahia, Antônio Silva Lima, and the representative of CAFIB - Rio, Carlos Feijó de Carvalho. The best dogs in the Analysis, chosen by Paulo Santos Cruz, were Sultão, belonging to Antônio Luiz Carvalho (Poços de Caldas, MG), and Fortuna de Tangará-Açu, belonging to Benedito Andrade Ribeiro (Lorena, SP).

It was at that event that we had the first contact with the future judge and director of CAFIB, Sebastião Pereira Monteiro Jr. (1953 - 1996). Very enthusiastic about the Fila breed, he had taken his adult male dog - called Leão and originating from the traditional João da Silva Costa breeding site in Itanhandu (MG) - to be analyzed. Endowed with a rather violent temper, when he reached that unknown place - among many strange people and under the loud sound of the speakers and the incessant barking of other Filas - Leão, excitedly, leaped boldly from the bodywork of the truck he had traveled in, fracturing one of his front legs. All the judges and directors of CAFIB - at that time searching intensely for old specimens of the true Fila Brasileiro in the Minas Gerais backlands - were very impressed with the excellent phenotype and the strong temperament of that specimen. He was eventually taken to the Parque do Castelo Kennel at Airton and Rosely Campbell's house located in the Interlagos neighborhood of São Paulo, where he lived and reproduced (in addition to having seriously bitten his host couple) from January 26, 1981 until March 6, 1987, when he died at the approximate age of about ten, leaving - in Airton's words - a lot of longingand scars. Analyzed and registered under the number CAFIB-SP 0013, Leão proved to be an excellent stud dog, having produced, with Astúrias from Parque do Castelo, the often awarded Embaré from Parque do Castelo, owned by Pedro Borotti (Embaré Kennel); with Amandi from Araguaya (also the daughter of a farm dog named Sultão, bred by José Gomes, in Varginha, MG), produced Forte from Parque do Castelo, another excellent specimen of the breed; from his mating with Amaralina from Parque do Castelo Jundiaquara from Parque do Castelo was born, owned by radiologist Paulo Fernando Soares Angotti, who, after taking him to Governador Valadares (MG), reported his strongly beneficial influence on the local breeding stock of Fila Brasileiros, especially in his Ibituruna Kennel. Since, were we to mention also his descendants from the generations that followed, this text would be endless, I leave it on record here, as an expressive example, the name of only one of his grandchildren, Guri from Serra Dourada (bred by Denise and Luciano Gavião), who became CAFIB Brazilian Champion in 1988.

Leão was one of the most important specimens of the true typical Fila Brasileiro, from a farm, violent and very well structured. His figure was extremely similar to the portrait drawn by the artist Marilda Mallet, guided by Paulo Santos Cruz and his students, to represent the visual pattern of the breed. His head illustrates the poster of the 16^th CAFIB Brazilian Fila Exhibition in Spain in 2019, fostered and judged by the breeder Jaime Pérez Marhuenda, member of our panel of judges and holder of the Acaboclado Kennel, in the Spanish city of Alicante, and attended also by competitors from other European countries.

It is also worth noting, for filing purposes that, in 1987, a few years after Leão's “discovery”, Sebastião Pereira Monteiro Jr., who worked at the Padroeira Post in Aparecida (SP), was the author of another important “discovery”, when he noticed, in the bodywork of a pickup truck that had stopped there to fuel, a very typical and apparently quite aggressive Filafawn. He went to talk to the driver, Jurandir Meirelles, and learned that he, in spite of having no further technical knowledge, was a breeder of the breed, and eventually visited him at his residence to get to know the stock he kept there. This dog in the truck was called Hércules and was, in fact, an excellent specimen in structure, distinctiveness and temperament. Some time later, already analyzed and approved, Hércules even received the coveted gold medal of CAFIB's exhibitions, corresponding to the “Great” qualification. And through Jurandir, Sebastião also met the late breeder Walter Novaes Nunes, owner of Jawa Kennel, awarded the title of Breeder of the Year in 1992 and which today continues under the command of his son Fabiano Gonçalves Nunes, member of the Board of Directors of CAFIB Judges.

The city of Cruzeiro provides an uplifting example with its Animal Support Center (Centro de Apoio ao Animal) - CEAN. This body, which is not a shelter for abandoned dogs, belongs to the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde) - SUS and cares for the animals of the Municipal Kennel, in addition to seeking to raise awareness of dog and cat owners about the importance of hygiene and health practices" on Duties and Obligations of a Responsible Owner", about the benefits of sterilization and the end of abandonment. It also offers free outpatient clinical care for small-sized animals.

This 111^th CAFIB National Fila Brasileiro Exhibition and the 4^th CAFIB Fila Brasileiro Exhibition in Cruzeiro was organized by judge and breeder Giovani Éder de Carvalho (Itapuã Kennel), also our representative in Aparecida (SP). Held at the Nesralla Rubez Permanent Exhibition Premises - ExpoAgro Cruzeiro's stage, considered one of the most important agricultural fairs of the Vale do Paraíba -, the trials were held by Airton Campbell (who judged the males) and Américo Cardoso dos Santos Jr. (in charge of judging the females), both from São Paulo capital. They were assisted by Beth Sayuri Hino (Hisama Kennel in Guarulhos, SP) and Joaquim Liberato Barroso (Kennel Boa Sorte in Valença, RJ). Other judges who assisted in the Phenotype and Temperament Analyses and also participated in awarding scores to the pre-selected competitors to choose the Best Temperament were Fabiano Gonçalves Nunes (Guaratinguetá, SP), Giovani Éder de Carvalho (Aparecida, SP), Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG) and Mariana Campbell (São Paulo, SP), who was also the veterinarian responsible for the event. CAFIB appreciates the collaboration of experienced extras Juliano de Paula Dias, who worked on temperament and nervous system tests; Beth Sayuri Hino and Cíntia M. Junqueira de Barros, who took charge of the photographs and video recordings; Cleide M. Cocito Cardoso dos Santos and Mariana Campbell, who worked at the secretary; Joaquim Liberato Barroso and Beth Hino, who were efficient assistants to the judges. In the Phenotype and Temperament Analysis, which, as usual, preceded the exhibit, and the 16 dogs that participated, were all approved. And the Exhibition received 68 registrations and relied on 65 Filas on track.

Just before the judgments began, CAFIB's Legal Director, Gérson Ribeiro Junqueira de Barros, read a message in honor of three very important Cafibeans, but whose presence and performance are not well known by most associates, breeders and exhibitors. This text was written by the “Father of CAFIB” and Honorary "honoris causa" Judge Francisco Peltier de Queiroz, who also had three beautiful plates made to the honorees, standing out that, unfortunately, we are used to revering only the memory of figures that are already deceased. In his tribute of recognition, Chico Peltier praises the fundamental performance of:

LUIZ ANTÔNIO MACIEL - Journalist and one of the founders of CAFIB, who, in addition to being from the beginning, one of its most important directors. He was part of the group that, in the 1970's, began to denounce - to the then BKC and then to the CBKC - the disorderly mixbreeding and the falsification of pedigrees that embarrassed honest cynophiles and threatened the survival of the Fila Brasileiro breed. He was the one who set up, managed and embodied the Club, becoming its first secretary and leading the process that culminated with the recognition of CAFIB by the Ministry of Agriculture. And it is his the greatest merit for the idealization and edition of all issues of the internationally known newsletter "O Fila". Maciel is a member of the Permanent Life-long Technical Council and the Permanent Deliberative Council of CAFIB and, although not a lawyer, with his profound legal knowledge continues to advise the Club on various issues.

MARIANA CAMPBELL - In the words of Chico Peltier, Mariana is a legitimate CAFIB R.O., since she is involved with the breeding of Fila Brasileiro, started by her parents Airton and Rosely (founders of the Clube and owners of the Parque do Castelo Kennel), since she was born. . Graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1998, she has been General Secretary and Judge of CAFIB since 2011. And became responsible for a huge set of fundamental duties for the smooth running of the Club. As it would not be possible to list all of her functions, we give as a few examples the execution of the Litter Checks in Greater São Paulo, the issuance of the Litter Registrations, the work of typing all Phenotype and Temperament Analyses performed throughout Brazil, the issuance of the Approval Certificates and Origin Records, in addition to mailing these documents to the breeders and owners. She participates in the finalization of the Circulars, which includes the photographs of the winners and the participants' ratings. She acts as Secretary and Veterinarian in charge during the Analyses and Exhibitions, whose cash she also takes care of and makes various payments, to account to Treasurer Luciano Gavião.

AMÉRICO CARDOSO DOS SANTOS NETO - Like Mariana, he also grew up among the Filas because his parents, Américo and Cleide, likewise, are also among the founders of CAFIB and have been breeders (owners of the Araguaya Kennel) for over 40 years. He holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation, a postgraduate degree in Art History (art and technology) also from FAAP and a master's degree in Art History (web-art) from the historic Universidad de Valladolid in Spain. one of the oldest in the world still in operation, founded in the 13^th century. With over 20 years of professional web-design experience, he has about 500 websites in his portfolio. When some of the former board members left the Club to create another entity with the goal to destroy us and blatantly seized all of our files, both physical and virtual, our IT Director, in just 14 days, created and made available on the web a new site to replace the one that had been stolen from CAFIB, in addition to taking care of the constant updating of this very important tool to disclose our activities and the preservation of the true Fila Brasileiro.

The main results of CAFIB's 2019 Closing Exhibition Season were:

BEST MALE: Lyoto Fila Roots, owned by Alessandro Castro Bueno (Aparecida de Goiânia, GO).

BEST FEMALE: Madona Guardiões de Paraibuna, owned by José Luiz Calderaro Netto (Paraibuna, SP).

BEST HEAD: Major V Guardiães do Caracu, owned by Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG) and José Wilson Vilela (Campo Belo, MG).

BEST TEMPERAMENT: Django do Chapéu Preto, owned by Wolney Almeida Santos (Guaratinguetá, SP).

During the course of the Exhibition, Mariana Campbell, with our computer program, would type the results of the judgments and the computer program, automatically, added this score with those awarded throughout the year, to complete the final result of CAFIB's 2019 ranking and define the main titles of the season. In this edition, in which we also include the prizes awarded in the northern hemisphere, raising our Championship to the world level, the winners were:

BREEDER OF THE YEAR: Guardiães do Caracu Kennel, owned by José Wilson Vilela (Campo Belo, MG) and Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG).

VICE BREEDER OF THE YEAR: Recanto do Livramento Kennel, owned by Leonardo Monteiro (Cordisburgo, MG).

EXHIBITOR OF THE YEAR: José Wilson Vilela (Campo Belo, MG) and Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG), owner of Guardiães do Caracu Kennel.

VICE-EXHIBITOR OF THE YEAR: Leonardo Monteiro, from the Recanto do Livramento Kennel (Cordisburgo, MG).

WORLD CHAMPION: Lyoto Fila Roots, owned by Alessandro Castro Bueno of Chão de Goiás Kennel (Aparecida de Goiânia, GO).

VICE-WORLD CHAMPION: Django do Chapéu Preto, owned by Wolney Almeida Santos (Guaratinguetá, SP).

WORLD CHAMPION (MALE): Gana Recando do Livramento, by Leonardo Monteiro, from the Recanto do Livramento Kennel (Cordisburgo, MG).

VICE-WORLD CHAMPION (FEMALE): Olívia Guardiães do Caracu, by José Wilson Vilela (Campo Belo, MG) and Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG), owned by Guardiães do Caracu Kennel.

TEMPERAMENT OF THE YEAR: Lyoto Fila Roots, by Alessandro Castro Bueno owner of Chão de Goiás Kennel (Aparecida de Goiânia, GO).

VICE-TEMPERAMENT OF THE YEAR: Django do Chapéu Preto, by Wolney Almeida Santos (Guaratinguetá, SP).

REPRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Anjo Portal dos Quatro Irmãos, by Leonardo Monteiro, from the Recanto do Livramento Kennel (Cordisburgo, MG).

VICE-REPRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Kratos do Itanhandu, by Cíntia and Gérson Junqueira de Barros, owners of Itanhandu Kennel (Itanhandu, MG).

REPRODUCER OF THE YEAR (FEMALE): Cuba Fila Roots, by Sebastián Iglesias, from Del Talacasto Kennel (Roldán - Argentina).

VICE-REPRODUCER OF THE YEAR (FEMALE): Rosinha Acangussu das Gerais, by José Wilson Vilela (Campo Belo, MG) and Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG), owners of Guardiães do Caracu Kennel.

Genetics and zootechnical improvement of the stock, while requiring technical knowledge, are not an exact science because mating excellent males and females (of any species or breed) does not warrant a production that is also excellent. The great breeders rely on a kind of “sixth sense”, which allows them to perceive the ideal combination between male and female breeders to obtain outstanding specimens. Even so, the main tool available to the selector is still the comparison between the best individuals produced by the different breeding sites so that in mating, they seek the combination of couples whose eventual defects are counterbalanced by partners with the missing quality. And this is the great objective of technical (not merely festive) exhibitions, such as those held by CAFIB. That is, to promote, in fact, the genetic improvement of the Fila Brasileiro breed. And to confirm the real merits of this enterprise, it is worth remembering that Kratos do Itanhandu, who was Brazilian Champion in 2016, is justifying this title by becoming Vice-Reproducer of the Year, now, in 2019; and that Cuba Fila Roots, having accumulated the Brazilian Champion and Temperament of the Year awards for two consecutive seasons in 2014 and 2015, has now been awarded the Breeder of the Year Trophy. And yet - as rural auctioneers often point out, "the fruit never falls far from the tree" - Cuba Fila Roots is the mother of Lyoto Fila Roots.

The awarding of these prizes was made by several personalities who, with their presence, honored the event: Átila Luiz Branquinho Dias, President of UNIFILA (Barão dos Filas Kennel, in São Tomé das Letras, MG); Cleide Cocito Cardoso dos Santos (Araguaya Kennel, in Vargem Grande Paulista, SP); Rosely Campbell, Breeder of the Year of 1985 (Parque do Castelo Kennel, in São Paulo, SP); Marisa and Shoji (“Jorge”) Hino, Breeder of the Year of 1987 (Hisama Kennel, in Guarulhos, SP); Fabiano Gonçalves Nunes, Breeder of the Year of 1992 (Jawa Kennel, in Guaratinguetá, SP); Neusa and Giovani Carvalho, Breeder of the Year of 1996 (Itapuã Kennel, in Aparecida, SP); Half Fonseca Marassi, Breeder of the Year of 2007 (Alto Quatis Kennel, in Quatis, RJ); and, finally, Cíntia and Gérson Ribeiro Junqueira de Barros, Breeder of the Year 2008 to 2018 (Itanhandu Kennel, in Itanhandu, MG).

The complete list of the 20 best placed specimens in each category can be accessed at CAFIB's websites: www.cafib.org.br and www.cafibbrasil.com.

CAFIB notes and thanks the attendance of breeders, exhibitors and breed enthusiasts from 28 cities in four Brazilian states: Goiás (Aparecida de Goiânia and Goiânia); Minas Gerais (Aiuruoca, Belo Horizonte, Campo Belo, Capim Branco, Cordisburgo, Itanhandu, Nova Serrana, Passa Quatro, São José da Lapa, São Tomé das Letras and Três Corações); Rio de Janeiro (Petrópolis, Quatis and Valença); São Paulo (Aparecida, Biritiba Mirim, Boituva, Cruzeiro, Guararema, Guaratinguetá, Guarulhos, Jarinu, Paraibuna, São Paulo, Tuiuti and Vargem Grande Paulista).

We are also grateful for the support and attendance of the municipal authorities who have greatly contributed to the achievement of our 111^th National Fila Brasileiro Exhibition, especially Mayor Thales Gabriel Fonseca, and his Secretary for Economic Development and Tourism Diego Henrique Rodrigues Miranda. We also express our gratitude to the Cruzeiro City-Hall employees, particularly Dona Maria and Éder Correia da Silva, who, very willingly, took care of cleaning and tidying up the premises, changing light bulbs and exceeding her working hours to, at dusk, turn on the track spotlights and always willing to help with whatever was needed.

As usual, in 2019, once again, our CAFIB Annual Calendar Closing Exhibition was a great success in Filas's quantity and quality. And, confident that, next year, we will continue to grow and expand our scope of performance, always working towards the improvement of the breed, we wish you all an excellent 2020.