Star Dog Handler Hospitalized Before Westminster Show

Bill McFadden was in a car wreck in Wyoming on his way to New York
By Liz MacGahan,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 13, 2021 4:44 PM CDT
Star Dog Handler Hospitalized Before Westminster Show
Bill McFadden poses for photos with Flynn, a bichon frise, after Flynn won best in show during the 142nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show Feb. 13, 2018.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

First of all, the dogs are OK. But star dog handler Bill McFadden has some recovering to do. McFadden was driving a vanload of dogs from his home in California to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York when he was rear-ended in Wyoming on Tuesday, USA Today reports. McFadden was in the hospital briefly and is now resting at home, said his wife and fellow star dog handler Taffe. The dogs saw a veterinary chiropractor just in case they were jostled too much.

Taffe McFadden went on with the show, bringing the couple’s dogs to the competition. It’s the first in the show’s 145-year history ever to be held outside of Manhattan, per the New York Post. The show is usually held in Madison Square Garden, but this year’s outdoor venue in Tarrytown, New York, will make social distancing possible. The Best in Show prize—which Bill McFadden has helped two dogs win—will be announced Sunday evening.
(More Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show stories.)

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