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1st CAFIB Fila Brasileiro Exhibition in Sabaúna

Américo Cardoso dos Santos Júnior

CAFIB – Clube de Aprimoramento do Fila Brasileiro, in uninterrupted action for the genetic improvement of the breed, ever since its foundation in 1978, has been recording its history and a few curious facts in the circular letters that disclose the results of Phenotype and Temperament Analyses, followed by Exhibitions, held throughout Brazil and other countries. This information also ends up being a tourist route through the main centers of breeders and enthusiasts of Fila, which covers the wide expansion of the national territory, from the spring of the Ailã River, in the municipality of Uiramutã (which borders Guyana), located on Mount Caburaí, in Roraima – which, actually, in is the northernmost point of our country (not Oiapoque, in Amapá, as previously thought) – to the gaucho city of Santa Vitória do Palmar, from which the municipality of Chuí, which borders the almost homonymous Chuy in Uruguay, emanated. Out of curiosity, these two cities eventually came together, in a process called conurbation and are divided by a wide street, called Avenida Uruguay on the Brazilian side and Avenida Brasil on the opposite sidewalk, belonging to the Eastern Republic of Uruguay. It is noteworthy that the southern most of the country is also controversial because it is located at the mouth of the Arroio Chuí, a spot that changes with the floods. This watercourse is born in a small swamp in Santa Vitória do Palmar, crosses the municipality of Chuí to flow into the Atlantic Ocean next to Barra do Chuí Beach, which in fact belongs to the resort of Santa Vitória do Palmar. And this mouth of the stream marks, at the same time, the extreme south of the Brazilian coast (not the national territory) and the extreme north of the Uruguayan coast. It is worth remembering that this neighboring country was incorporated into Brazil in 1821, with the name of Cisplatina Province, but gained its independence in 1825. And our continued performance of CAFIB for many years has also been expanding throughout the rest of the world, with Analysis and Exhibitions held from Argentina to the United States, from Italy to the Czech Republic.

Now, in this revival of normality in our activities, we held, on June 5, 2022, the 1^st CAFIB Fila Brasileiro Exhibition in Sabaúna. This bucolic district belongs to the municipality of Mogi das Cruzes, which integrates the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo.

The indigenous word Sabaúna means "black shell" (a type of mollusk, which is very common in Ribeirão Guararema, which winds along the district) and the history of the place begins in the eighteenth century, when Álvaro Luiz do Valle, Captain major of the Captaincy of São Vicente, gave to the religious the lands that would host the Carmo de Mogi Convent. The initial area was enlarged by the friars and transformed into a large rural property, Fazenda Sabaúna, where all the food consumed by the members of the order and by the slaves who lived there was produced. In the 1880’s, the Government of São Paulo acquired these lands to start colonial activity and receive immigrants from European and African countries. The development of the site owes a lot to the installation of the railroad, whose station, in addition to bringing new residents, also drained its varied production to several cities in São Paulo and even to the then capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro. The original construction, made of wood in 1893, was replaced by the current one, inaugurated in 1932, when Sabaúna already belonged to Mogi das Cruzes. It was decommissioned in 1989, but currently transformed into a museum, remains a preserved tourist attraction, as well as the pictorial house of the station’s chief and a few centuries-old residences around it. Next to the tracks, you can see the large water box, built in 1916, to supply homes and trains. And, there, in its streets, still paved with cobblestones, it is common, to this date, for the inhabitants to move on horseback, or in carriages, as was common in the villages of yesteryear.

In this picturesque locality, the establishment known as Pousada e Hípica Sapucaia hosted the Analysis and Exhibition of CAFIB, organized by the breeder of Filas and professional horseman Felício Unello, married to Débora Mendonça de Castro Alves. Here, besides the traditional modalities of classical and rural equestrianism, such as the jumping and three-reel events, and leisure activities such as tours and horseback riding, one can also practice the almost unknown mounted archaea. This sport is a combination of target shooting riding using bow and arrow. It is ancient art, arising for hunting and war, developed by Huns, Mongols, Romans and Persians, having been performed with remarkable mastery by the natives of the United States. The rider, or the amazon (in sports epistic men and women always compete together, in the same race), galloping, and without holding the reins because both hands, busy with the bow and the arrows, seek to hit the targets arranged along the track.

And, by remarkable coincidence, this equestrian center is installed in an area of 120,000 m², remnant of the centenary Fazenda Cinco Pedras, partially plotted and once property of the grandfather of the Director of Dissemination of CAFIB, Cíntia Mota Mendes Junqueira de Barros, married to our Legal Director, Gérson Ribeiro Junqueira de Barros. Deborah and her two sisters bought 40,000 m² each, totaling the 12 hectares that the three manage and which constitute this equestrian center where the old farm's headland is included with some interesting improvements, such as an old well, on whose plate one reads the inscription with the year in which it was drilled: Fazenda Cinco Pedras – 1948.

Mr. Etulain José Mota, Cíntia’s uncle, who lived there with his brother Édson Lage Mota, says that these lands, with 114 São Paulo bushels of land, previously belonging to Mr. Oberico, from São José dos Campos, were acquired in 1964 by Mr José de Oliveira Mota, who was Cintia's grandfather in partnership with his uncle, Mr Zé Motinha. In 1972, the property was sold to commendator Valdemar Costa Neto, who made significant improvements designed by an important architect from the Maluf family. In 1984, the farm was bought by the traditional Doberman breeder Athayde Reis, who plotted a portion, planned to soon become an urban area, and kept the rest of the property, taking care to preserve its native forests, in addition to adding them, by planting several new trees. There, where there are several caves, endangered birds, of rare species, can be seen, such as the potoo, or mãe-da-lua (Nyctibius griseus). He says that the farm was the setting of several films and, when he acquired it, he found there remnants of a scenographic city; and that the main activity at the site was livestock, mainly dairy. There, whole milk type A was produced and pasteurized, in addition to the preparation of cheese, yogurt and milk sweets. Today, the property welcomes tourists and offers various leisure options, such as hiking and tracking, mainly to the highest point, where you will find the five huge stones that justify the name of the farm and that offers an impressive view. Guests and visitors usually constitute a cheerful group, surrounded by large and heterogeneous pack because their dogs, of various breeds, accompany them even on raft rides in the lake where owners and pets dive and swim together. The site, today called Centro Cinófilo and Fazenda Cinco Pedras, has physical education professionals and veterinary technicians to meet any needs. It promotes activities such as "canicross", in which guests, together with their dogs, run along bumpy paths; and these mascots on vacation can also have fun playing in a pond of "medicinal mud" where the inscription states: "A dirty dog is a happy dog.” Upon returning from the tour, the animals have a bath service, resulting from the partnership with a pet shop, to stay clean and fragrant on the trip back home. Other practices offered to visitors are climbing, paintball with biodegradable balls, horseback riding, organic vegetable garden, restaurant and swimming pool. The Sapucaia Riding Club, through whose lawns turkeys and peacocks transit, also has a fenced track, and with bleachers, for training and canine competitions, as well as 34 kennels for lodging or training.

In the Phenotype and Temperament Analysis that, as it was common, preceded the Exhibition, 10 dogs attended, out of the 13 previously enrolled, and only one was disapproved, due to insufficient reaction in the temperament and nervous system tests. The Exhibition was judged by the breeder and general secretary of CAFIB Mariana Campbell, who was also the veterinary doctor in charge of the show. Airton Campbell (Canil Parque do Castelo), Giovani Éder Carvalho (Canil Itapuã), Fabiano Gonçalves Nunes (Canil Jawa) and Elizabeth Sayuri Hino (Canil Hisama) worked as auxiliary judges throughout the event.

The 50 registered dogs attended the judging track and the main results of this 1^st CAFIB Fila Brasileiro Exhibition in Sabaúna, valid for the 2^nd World Championship of the CAFIB Fila Brasileiro were:

BEST MALE: Logan Jardim da Lapa (owned by Marcos Mello, from Governador Valadares, MG)

BEST FEMALE: Logan Jardim da Lapa (owned by Marcos Mello, from Governador Valadares, MG)

BEST TEMPERAMENT: Django do Chapéu Preto (owned by Felício B. Unello, from Biritiba Mirim, SP)

BEST HEAD: Django do Chapéu Preto (owned by Felício B. Unello, from Biritiba Mirim, SP)

BEST BRINDLE (less than 1 year of age): Sombra Jardim da Lapa (owned by Marcos Mello, from Governador Valadares, MG)

BEST BRINDLE (less than 1 year of age): Urutu II Recanto do Livramento (owned by Fernando Durão, from Linhares, ES

Due to some poisonous gossip about the supposed existence of black dogs in the ancestry of some award-winning specimens in our tracks, it is important to remember, once again, that CAFIB, since its foundation in 1978, has always disregarded the genealogies contained in the pedigrees (with so many untruthful information) issued by any other cynophilic entities. We have always had, as a rule, to analyze the phenotype and temperament of the specimens on the track without listening to intrigues and rumors, oral or written, about their ancestry; and then evaluate the puppies they generate to confirm, or cancel, the approval in the Analysis.

This Exhibition of Sabaúna was sponsored by Rações Quatree, belonging to company Granvita, from Pará de Minas (MG), which produces and distributes a varied line of food for dogs and cats. And CAFIB records and thanks the important collaboration of Benedito (Benê) José de Lima Neto and Judge Jonas Tadeu Iacovantuono, responsible for the secretariat on the track; breeder Gerson Ribeiro Junqueira de Barros, in charge of sound; and the guinea pig Caio Henrique de Campos Cardoso, acting in the tests of temperament and nervous system. We are honored by the presence of breeders, exhibitors, participants and spectators from various regions of Brazil: São Paulo (Aparecida, Biritiba Mirim, Guararema, Guaratinguetá, Guarulhos, Jacareí, Mogi das Cruzes, Paraibuna, Sabaúna, Santo André, São Paulo and Suzano); Minas Gerais (Belo Horizonte, Cordisburgo, Itanhandu and Governador Valadares); Espírito Santo (Linhares); and Paraná (Curitiba).

The upcoming CAFIB events shall be in Spanish, packed by the sounds of the bandoneón and the castanets. In November, we will conduct the 4^th CAFIB Phenotype and Temperament Analysis in Uruguay, followed by the 2^nd CAFIB Phenotype and Temperament Analysis in Argentina, and we'll have our 17^th Exhibition in Spain.