persuaded The Kennel Club (England) to recognise the breed as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the name of the English county where the breed was most popular." Other theories of origin When comparing the centuries-old bull and terrier to the modern Stafford, Joanna de Klerk, DVM, author of The Complete Guide to Staffordshire Bull Terriers (2019), said that "being so similar to the original Old English Bulldog, which has since been bred beyond recognition, some argue the Staffie originates solely from that breed rather than having any Terrier in the mix." Part of the confusion and misconceptions about the breed is due to the breed's inconsistent genetic makeup as a result of unregulated breeding practices beginning with the Staffie's origins and continuing much later into its development, well before traceable pedigrees existed. It is generally accepted that the Stafford descended from the 19th-century bulldog–terrier crosses that were later bred for dog fighting after blood sports were declared illegal. But it wasn't until the early 20th century, well after selective breeding refined the bull and terrier crosses into what became the English Bull Terrier, that the Stafford eventually emerged, a breed standard was created, and in 1935, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was officially recognised by the KC. In the spring 2013 issue of The Stafford Knot, Jason Nicolai describes some important evolutionary factors in the breed standards of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier that are "very often misquoted and misunderstood." The standard for the modern Stafford aligns with the breed's transformation from its bull and terrier ancestry as a fighting dog to a modern conformation show dog. Some book authors have compared nineteenth-century drawings or paintings to the visual appearances of modern Staffords. Author and Stafford enthusiast, James Beaufoy, wrote in his book Staffordshire Bull Terriers: a practical guide for owners and breeders (2016) that there is "interesting evidence" in some of the early 19th-century paintings that depict conformation and coat colour similarities of the modern Stafford when compared to the Old English Bulldog. One such painting is by artist Abraham Cooper (1817), titled Crib and Rosa. A.W.A Cairns was the editor of the online Stafford Magazine. Cairns believed a "Stafford-like animal existed at the turn of the 19th Century" and admitted, with the "possibility for slight prejudice", that "the only modern dog of this type is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier". However, Cairns does clarify that the pedigree inscribed on the plaque of