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1^st CAFIB’s Fila Brasileiro Exhibition in Pará de Minas (MG)

The function of columnist of the events promoted by CAFIB sometimes leads to questions about registering or not certain information that we assume are already known by Fila enthusiasts, and, thus, may seem unnecessary as they are so obvious. However, experience teaches that one should not underestimate ignorance and misinformation. In the latest event that we promoted, on October 21, 2018 – the First Analysis of Phenotype and Temperament, followed by the First Exhibition of CAFIB’s Fila Brasileiro in Pará de Minas (MG) – we, judges and directors, were all surprised, while discussing with the breeders and local exhibitors, by the question posed by one of the most interested members of that group. It was a young man who, without any constraint, frankly asked: “Sorry, but who is this Paulo Santos Cruz?” It is as if a German breeder of German Shepherds had asked who Captain Max von Stephanitz was; or as if an Argentine breeder of Creole horses, had never heard the name of Emilio Solanet (by the way, the story of the raising of this equine breed and its selection by Solanet, in his legendary “criadero” El Cardal, with many analogies with the work led by Santos Cruz in his also legendary Parnapuan kennel); or, still, as if a young athlete, looking forward to become a professional soccer player inquired: “Forgive me, but who is Pelé?”

Returning to the Analysis and Exhibition, as usual, we start the text with some information about the location. The story of Pará de Minas, a municipality about 90 km west of the State capital, Belo Horizonte, starts in the second half of the 17^th century, when stop point for the pioneers who passed by searching for gold and precious stones, especially in the now historical cities of Pitangui and Onça de Piguangui, was established, through which navigating through the Pará river, went by flags of Fernão Dias Pais Leme and Borba Gato, who installed allotments there. Currently, the galleries of these disabled mines constitute an important tourist attraction in a region that continues, to this day, constantly visited by treasure hunters, equipped with metal detectors, hopeful of finding a legendary point, filled with gold coins, which would have been buried in the region in the 19^th century. The official start of the then hamlet was the inauguration of the Nossa Senhora da Piedade Chapel, in 1772, built at the initiative of the Portuguese merchant Manuel Batista - known as Fluffy Duck, because of his short stature and fat –, who had already built the first home of the region, today turned into a Historical, Documentary and Sound Museum. The old district, therefore called Arraial do Patafofo, or Arraial do Patafufo, subordinated to the municipality of Pitangui, was twice transformed into a village, with the denomination of Vila do Pará, which was also twice extinct and again annexed to Pitangui, until it was finally recreated and reinstalled in 1875. This denomination, Pará, meaning "mighty river", was changed, in 1921, to Pará de Minas, in order to distinguish the city from the state with the same name.

This municipality, which today stands out for its production of poultry and swine, has, among its main tourist attractions, the great monument of Christ the Redeemer, today listed by the Municipal Heritage and built high on the hill that is fit with a gazebo from where one can see most of the city. The heart of the image was molded with material proceeding from the casting of several aluminum utensils, mainly drinking glasses, cake tins and silverware settings, donated by the population. The goal is to embody the presence of all the residents of Pará de Minas in the heart of the Redeemer.

One of the curiosities of the town is that it was the birthplace of journalist Benedito Valadares Ribeiro (1892-1973), influential politician at the time of Getúlio Vargas and who, after being Counselor and Mayor of Pará de Minas, was Governor of Minas Gerais and holds the record of the longest term in this position, which he held for twelve years, from 1933 to 1945, becoming known as Governor Valadares, treatment by which he demanded being called. It was he who gave impetus to the career of known São Paulo politician Adhemar de Barros, to appoint him to Getúlio for federal intervenor in São Paulo. Among the famous disciples and friends of Valadares are also listed two names that ended up as being Presidents of the Republic: Tancredo Neves and Juscelino Kubitschek, whom he first called to be Chief of Staff of the Government of Minas Gerais and, later, named Mayor of Belo Horizonte. Benedito Valadares is a prominent figure in Minas Gerais political folklore. They say that while he was still a little known Congressman, he was appointed by Getúlio to intervene in his “Temporary Government”, in Minas Gerais. Regarding frequent doubts on the part of the people on the occupant of the position made the question popular as: “Mas será o Benedito?”.(in Portuguese, ‘For crying out loud’) One of his famous phrases was: “I am already hoarse from hearing so much". Very conceited and vain, Governor Valadares left a book of memories containing his main speeches and the explanations on how one must practice politics in Minas Gerais.

And, speaking of Governor Valadares, in this register of memories, one must not fail to mention that the city with this name, in the north of the Minas Gerais state, is an important part of the history of CAFIB. Our performance in Minas Gerais had its debut on May 17, 1981, in Juiz de Fora, where the Analysis of Phenotype and Temperament had been organized by Marcos Vilela Vieira, in the Soccer Field of the Paraibuna Cardboard and Packing Plant. On that occasion, after submitting to theoretical and practical examination, chemical engineer Luciano Cruz de Oliveira was approved to be part of our staff of judges; he was a deep scholar of Cynophilia, with several technical articles published in Brazil and abroad, in addition to also being a judge specialized in the Rottweiler and Boxer breeds. Later, CAFIB’s work in Minas Gerais had continuity mainly in the cities of Teófilo Otoni and Governador Valadares, where our Analyses and Exhibitions were organized, respectively, by Antonio Carlos Linhares Borges, of the Caramonã Kennel, and by Paulo Fernando Soares Angotti, of the Ibituruna Kennel. Actually, this kennel, of the physician Pablo Angotti, specialized in Radiology and Image Diagnosis, was the only one until today to win, in the same year, all CAFIB’s awards (that, at that time, were limited to the Brazilian Male Champion, Brazilian Female Champion, Breeder of the Year and Exhibitor of the Year). This enthusiastic individual of the breed established, at the time, the Clube Valadarense of the Fila Brasileiro, affiliated to CAFIB, and promoted, for 19 consecutive years, Analyses of Phenotype and Temperament, followed by Exhibitions in Governador Valadares.

More than once, returning to the First Analysis of Phenotype and Temperament and First Exhibition of CAFIB’s Fila Brasileiro in Pará de Minas, it is necessary to say a little about Jaime Perez Marhuenda, who came from, Spain, to judge this specimen. Bearer of the Acaboclado Kennel, in the city of Alicante, Jaime started his contact with us, in 1994, by means of a letter, with technical questions about the Fila Brasileiro breed, addressed to Francisco Peltier de Queiroz, then director of CAFIB Rio de Janeiro, who relayed it to Américo Cardoso dos Santos Jr, judge and director of CAFIB Brazil. It so happens that Jaime was already a great enthusiast of the Fila Brasileiro , of their most efficient promoters in Europe, writing articles and news on the breed in the important magazine published by the Club Español de los Molossos de Arena, of which he was one of the directors. In his consistent canine scholar career, Jaime Perez integrated the most traditional entity of his country: La Real Sociedad Canina de España, established in 1911 as Real Sociedad Central de Fomento de las Razas Caninas en España. There, for years, he judged several breeds, especially the large molossoid breeds. His vast resume also includes judging the Mastino Napoletano, in Italy, and of the Presa Canário, in the Canary Islands, where he ended up coming across more than 100 specimens on the track. Later, Jaime came several times to Brazil, became judge of CAFIB and our representative in Spain. There, from 2005, he started promoting Analyses of Phenotype and Temperament, followed by Exhibitions, in accordance with the regulations of CAFIB Brazil, whose judges started to be invited to lead these events. After that, Jaime established Club de Amigos del Fila Brasileiro en España, CAFIBE, in Alicante, by means of which he continued to defend the pure Fila Brasileiro and to promote it actively in Europe. In time, he went on giving up his involvement with other breeds and judges only the Fila Brasileiro. Unfortunately, the drastic laws established in the Old World in the turn for the 21^st century, as watchdogs, imposed very restrictive limits to own a Fila, especially in urban residences. With this, Jaime is now authorized to keep a single specimen of the breed, as long as duly confined in the kennel, forbidden, therefore, to be unleashed, even in his house’s yard, and needs to be submitted to periodic visits of an inspector in charge of making sure that the tyrannical legislation is being impeccably fulfilled.

In his more recent trip to Brazil, Jaime brought the complete clan: his wife, Elvira, his children Adrian, of 20 years (who brought his German girl friend, Hanah, who studies in Barcelona), Marco, of 18 years, and charming Gabriela, of 8 years. He tells us that the daughter used to complain because she was the only one in the family who had not come to Brazil and that her two brothers took sides with her, making strong pressure to materialize her old dream to visit the Pantanal Mato-Grossense (swamps). And, in fact, it was through this region - guided by the also judge of CAFIB, Paulo Augusto Monteiro de Moura -, that they started the tour, where they got to visit the very gorgeous region of Bonito, with its flaring rivers and waterfalls of crystalline waters and its impressive grottos and lagoons, where the waters are scandalously blue and luminous. When Jaime returned to Spain, he sent a message telling “I have already reincorporated to real life”, saying that the memories that his children had taken from here “will follow them throughout their lives” and that we, Brazilians, are privileged for our “wonders of Nature and the explosion of fauna and flora, unimaginable for a European”. Astonished at these water courses, of incredible transparency due to the high calcareous rock concentration, the language of the Spanish is impregnated with poetry: “Letting yourself go by the crystal-clear waters of the Silver River, encircled by a myriad fish of varied sizes and colors is something that all human being should try at least once in life. It is at this moment that in we feel part of Nature. Some people think that the Brazilian Carnival is an explosion of unsurpassable color. It is wrong. One must go to Bonito to contemplate a crater into which innumerable couples of macaws plough. That is a true show of life and color. ... As to the Pantanal (swamps), we are speechless. At a loss for words, due to its magnitude and exuberance. Out of words, for the hospitality of its inhabitants. Out of words, for the amount of birds, reptiles and mammals circulating in freedom. ... We were lucky to observe the greatest and most elusive mammal of the South American fauna: the tapir (or dolmen). And, finally, we had the huge luck to contemplate a couple of jaguars in ceremonial mating. ... Our visit to Mato Grosso do Sul could not have had a better end. We feel gratified and proud to be part of the group of the privileged few that have been able to see the wonderful spotted jaguar.”

We take this opportunity to reproduce below a stretch of the editorial published in the bulletin “O Fila” No. 2, of January 1979 and written by journalist Luis Antônio Maciel, also judge and founder of CAFIB. It is that the cover brought the photograph of countrymen from Mato Grosso beside a spotted jaguar that had been recently abated and a dog of the Fila Brasileiro breed that that participated in the hunt. Maciel makes comments on the rude origin of the Fila and concludes:

“… The cover of this number of “O Fila” is, before anything, a document of this tradition of fight and bravery of the Fila Brasileiro. The specimen of the cover is an anonymous animal (without pedigree), as many that still exist in the countryside. Living in the rude work of cattle breeding farms and providing permanent protection, day and night, to the herd. This is the Fila Brasileiro that we have inherited and that we want to preserve also in the cities, with or without pedigree, giving around-the-clock protection to its owners, day and night, with the same bravery with which it dominates a valuable zebu or facing the jaguar, in a death or life fight. For this reason, the photo of the cover must be understood as a document, and never as a possible incentive to the use of the Fila Brasileiro in indiscriminate hunts against jaguars and ocelots, animals that are, threatened by extinction due to man’s predatory action. Just like the Fila must be preserved, these feline animals are also threatened by extinction and must deserve the protection of all Brazilians.”

Today, practically four decades after the publication of this text, the population of spotted jaguars, species that until a little time back, was strongly threatened by extinction, has increased significantly. It is that the swamp cattle breeders used to kill the jaguars in a systematic way, as if this extermination were a necessary duty. It so happens that, in this flooded region, it is very difficult to breed and to handle the cattle, an activity that, therefore, does not provide easy profits. The farmers then perceived that in order to adapt their properties to house foreign tourists and to show them this flaring show of fauna and flora that encircles them it was far more convenient and profitable, than dedication to cattle culture, an activity that was downgraded to a secondary condition; and that it is a lot more profitable to keep the jaguar alive, as a basic component of this scenario – even if every now and then, it devours some calf -, than kill it.

Still, out of curiosity, it is worth remembering some analogies between the Fila and the Jaguar (Panthera onça), animals that, historically, have always occupied adversary positions. At the beginning of the settlement of Brazil, the aboriginal peoples had their first contacts with the dogs, brought by the Europeans and that the natives until then did not know; and, because they did not have an adequate word in their language to name them, they started to call them “ya wuara” or “yaguar”, the same name with which they referred themselves to the jaguar. So as to prevent confusions, the Jesuits, to make reference to the felines, created the neologism “jaguaretê”, of “ya' war-e' te”, which can be translated as “real beast”. Moreover, the Indians also called the jaguar “acanguçu”, or “canguçu”, from the tupi-guarani term “a kãgu'su”, that means “big head”, due to the junction of “a’kãga” (head) and “u'su” (big).And, coincidently, “cabeçudo” was also one of the old denominations that the Fila received in the interior lands of Minas Gerais.

Continuing the report on the Exhibition of Pará de Minas, CAFIB thanks and compliments the organizers for their excellent work: Wesley Souza Antunes, owner of the Caboclo Mineiro Kennel (Igaratinga, MG) and Marcus Flávio Vilasboas Moreira, of the Guardiães do Caracu Kennel (New Serrana, MG). In the Analysis of Phenotype and Temperament that, as usual, preceded the Exhibition, the following judges of CAFIB attended: Airton Campbell (São Paulo, SP), Américo Cardoso dos Santos Jr. (Vargem Grande Paulista, SP), Fabiano Nunes (Guaratinguetá, SP), Giovani Éder Florêncio de Carvalho (Aparecida, SP), Jonas Tadeu Iacovantuono (Guaratinguetá, SP), Luciano José de Almeida Gavião (Descalvado, SP), Paulo Augusto Monteiro de Moura (Belo Horizonte, MG) and Pedro Carlos Borotti (Porto Ferreira, SP).

The secretarial works were performed by Mariana Campbell, Cleide Cocito Cardoso dos Santos, Denise Gavião and Elmo Fonseca Lopes. By the way, Elmo Lopes, of B & L Kennel, in Belo Horizonte (MG), in addition to acting intensely in the Secretary and to accumulating the role of master of ceremonies of the event, was also the track assistant of judge Jaime Pérez. The veterinarian in charge was Luciano Gavião, while Airton, Mariana Campbell and Aníbal Felipe took care of the photographs. The tests of temperament and nervous system were performed by the role-player and professional trainer Guilherme de Paula Arantes, of Formiga (MG). CAFIB is also grateful to Mr. Rafael, representative of Rações Granvita, of Pará de Minas, which sponsored the event, and to the Protective Association of the Patinhas de Anjo Animals, for the support and the intermediation for the use of the Francisco Olivé Diniz Park of Exhibitions, known more as “Chica”.

The Exhibition counted on the presence of breeders, exhibitors and admirers of the Fila breed proceeding from the Minas Gerais cities of Araxá, Belo Horizonte, Campo Belo, Carmo de Minas, Cordisburgo, Formiga, Governador Valadares, Ibirité, Igaratinga, Itanhandu, Nova Serrana, Pará de Minas, Prudente de Moraes and São José da Lapa, while the natives of São Paulo came from Aparecida, Biritiba Mirim, Descalvado, Guaratinguetá, Porto Ferreira, São Paulo and Vargem Grande Paulista. We highlight the attendance of Minas friends Olegário Bretas Ferreira (São José da Lapa Kennel), of Belo Horizonte, Átila Luiz Branquinho Dias (Barão dos Filas Kennel), of Três Corações, and Aníbal Souza Felipe Silva (Filas de Fazenda Kennel), of Governador Valadares. This young man, Aníbal Felipe, in love with the breed, is Veterinarian Physician of the City Department for the Environment, Agriculture and Cattle-raising (SEMA), Environmental Manager of the Secretariat of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the State of Minas Gerais (SEMAD-MG), Master in Veterinary Medicine, Doctor in Animal Science, Professor of the University Vale do Rio Doce (Univale) and specialist in canine semen processing and artificial insemination.

Seventeen dogs participated in the Analysis of Phenotype and Temperament, of which only one failed, due to disqualifying reaction in the tests of temperament and nervous system evaluation. The Exhibition had 71 registrations, but 66 specimens were on the track. The results of the main classes were the following:

BEST MALE: Greco Recanto do Livramento, de Leonardo Monteiro (Cordisburgo, MG);

BEST FEMALE: Cigarra do Portal do Quatro Irmãos, de Ulisses Ferreira Diniz (Prudente de Morais, MG);

BEST HEAD: Cigarra do Portal do Quatro Irmãos, de Ulisses Ferreira Diniz (Prudente de Moraes, MG);

BEST TEMPERAMENT: Greco Recanto do Livramento, de Leonardo Monteiro (Cordisburgo, MG);

BEST BRINDLE (LESS THAN 1 YEAR OF AGE): Quimera V Guardiães do Caracu, de Wilson Vilela (Campo Belo, MG);

BEST BRINDLE (OVER 1 YEAR OF AGE):Vida Guardiães do Caracu, de Marcus Flavio Vilasboas Moreira (Nova Serrana, MG).

It is important to register some excerpts of comments made by Spanish judge Jaime Pérez Marhuenda at the end of the Exhibition:

“I thank the invitation received from CAFIB, more concretely from Airton and Marquinhos. ... I consider more interesting to direct my comments to the positive aspects, which are the constructive ones. The expressive participation of the Incentive classes impressed me positively, with average quality above the usual, which constitutes unequivocal message of optimism for the future. It is a sign that one is breeding, and breeding well. Happily, in the heads, the upper lips start to disappear with extreme depth, which deform the labial rhyme. ... The briddle, finally, are appearing with regularity on the tracks, and they do so with increasing quality. ... I greet CAFIB’s Board for the initiative to create a specific awarding for this fur, which, undoubtedly, stimulated the recovery of my favorite color. ... And, finally, I allow myself to make a negative comment…” (in relation to the people that lead the dogs and that, quite often, behave in a ridiculously theatrical way)… “One needs not simulate that the animal, during the test of temperament, exerts so much force that it ends by unbalancing the expositor because, at the end, such simulation may become true, as a result of the position adopted by the expositor, leading to disqualifications, or, which is worse, to accidents. I can assure them that a dog will not receive a higher score for “being capable” to drag its expositor. Hold your specimen with the two feet on the ground, with the two hands in the leash, with the body inclined backwards, and let the animal react.”

The complete result of this exhibition will be soon published by our Disclosure Board on the site: www.cafibbrasil.com and www.cafib.org.br, And the next event of our Calendar 2018 is the Third Analysis of Phenotype and Temperament of CAFIB and the Second Exhibition of the Fila Brasileiro of CAFIB in Uruguay, with the judgments under the charge of Mariana Campbell and Jonas Tadeu Iacovantuono. The site, for the third consecutive time, will be the Departamiento de Canelones, close to the capital, Montevideo, in the pleasant and traditional property called La Chacra Lacrosse, belonging to Raúl Jude Gurmendes, breeder of Filas for more than 30 years. And the organizers of the exhibit will be, again, the always enthusiastic Uruguayan Daniel Balsas – owner of the Piedras de Afilar Kennel, established in 1994 in Canelones, and as usual, aided by his entire family – along with his traditional Brazilian partner, Carlos Eduardo “Pipico” Gonçalves – of the Borghetto Kennel, in Pinheiro Machado, Rio Grande do Sul.