With less than two months to go before the official opening of the 2013 Interspecial Summer Games, the Canine Athletic Association (CAA) has stepped up pressure on the ISG Committee to reinstate the Dog paddle as a competitive stroke.

In a statement issued this morning, the Association once again asserted that the swimming stroke is an excellent test of aquatic prowess and, as such, should be reinstated immediately.

“Unless the ISG Committee takes swift action on this issue, we will see our amazing athletes sidelined once again. We cannot allow this to happen. Our Canine swimmers have been training for more than six years for these Games and they deserve a chance to compete,” said CAA President Alexandre Caniche.

This is not the first time the CAA has attempted to have the swimming stroke reinstated. But, last year, it embarked on an extensive multi-media campaign to raise awareness of the issue. The year-long campaign featured well-known sports figures and celebrities and the Association even commissioned a new scent, ‘”Soggy Dog,” that helped them raise funds to continue the fight.

“We thought we were getting somewhere with them [the ISG Committee], but now I’m not sure. Time is not on our side,” said Caniche.

The ISG Committee has stated that it will announce its decision on August 15. The Games begin on September 22.

“That’s cutting it pretty close, but until we know, we’ll keep encouraging our Dogs to train as hard as they can,” Caniche said.

The Canine Athletic Association is threatening a last-minute boycott of the 2013 Interspecial Summer Games.

“We will pull all our athletes from the Games unless our demands to reinstate the Dog Paddle as a competitive swimming stroke are met,” CAA President Alexandre Caniche advised in a statement released early this morning.

The Dog Paddle has not been used in any official Park swimming competitions since the establishment of zoocracy 31 years ago. The Canine Athletic Association has spent the last seven years fighting to reinstate it as a competitive swimming stroke. Earlier this month, the CAA lost its most recent battle, when the ISG Committee decided against reinstating the stroke in time for the 2013 Games.

Today’s statement is the strongest on record, with Caniche alleging on behalf of the Association that “specism” was a factor in the decision-making. He also called for a full investigation of the ISG Committee members.

If the CAA decides to follow through with its threat, it will have a detrimental effect on the Games, say sports commentators and representatives of the Park Broadcasting Corporation, the official broadcaster of the 2013 Games.

“Canine athletes compete in almost every sport in the Games and they have an avid following both inside and outside The Park. Without Canines in the field and in the water, we will have a much smaller audience and, to be frank, a far less interesting — and fair — competition,” a PBC spokesAnimal told The Mammalian Daily.

Asked in a radio interview this afternoon whether there were dissenters among the Association’s ranks, Caniche demurred, then answered that members “had not been polled recently on specific matters.”

“Our membership has been united in this fight for over seven years and I have no reason to believe that has changed. In any case, all Canine athletes in The Park are required to be members of our Association, so the point is moot. No Canine will be competing in the Summer Games if the CAA calls a boycott,” he said.

The Interspecial Summer Games are scheduled to begin on September 22 and run until October 1.

See also:

CAA renews campaign to “Bring Back the Dog Paddle!”
CAA steps up pressure on Summer Games committee
CAA to ISG: “This is not the Dog paddle we asked for!”