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March 14. The breed characteristics: “good with other dogs,” “good Mari-Beth O’Neill reported that scholarship applications for Juniors
with children” need to be completed and to be truthful. Mark would had been reviewed and awarded in March. Veterinary student appli-
like to encourage parent clubs to use the Marketplace. Breeders of cations are due. Nine “lunch and learn” sessions have been held so far
Merit get free access, and since 7 million people per month visit the this year at veterinary schools.
AKC website, it would increase the visibility of the parent clubs if more
of their breeders were listed. Parent clubs should be clear as to what The “Group Re-assignment Sub-committee” gave no report, to the ap-
tests are required in their health statements. Participation in CHIC parent relief of those present.
is not required for Breeders of Merit—just the promise that they will
perform the recommended health testing on their breeding stock. The “Parent Club Flier Program” sends the pertinent parent club Infor-
mation to owners with newly registered puppies. 138 clubs, including
Dr. Battaglia reviewed some of the data which he had previously pre- the ATCA, are currently participating. There is no charge for revising
sented at the December meeting. The primary concern of the board these fliers, which we have done recently. There was some discussion
is that despite increasing dog and litter registrations, the number of about including at the bottom an application for parent club member-
entries in conformation events continues to drop. “Low entry breeds” ship but no consensus on whether this would be a good idea.
are defined by AKC judging operations as having fewer than 3500
entries per year. Half of all AKC breeds now fall into this category. The Don James stated that the Leonberger club had moved to electronic
average entry in dog shows is now 858, down from 1000 10 years ago. balloting. Regulations in the state of incorporation required that a
Scarcely any of the low entry breeds show increasing numbers, and paper ballot be the default so that members wanting to vote electron-
60 breeds have fewer than 50 litters/year. Dr. Jerome Bell, who will be ically had to opt-in, which 85% of members did. The ATCA has asked
speaking at our Asheville National, has reviewed this data (according the New Jersey attorney who recently reviewed our revised bylaws
to Dr. Battaglia) and is concerned about a decrease in genetic diversity if she can determine whether that state allows electronic balloting.
in those breeds whose numbers are declining. (The ATCA is a New Jersey corporation.)
Parent Clubs Committee: The AKC Club Development Department has now assisted 78 clubs
with issues of growth and governance and is available to assist any
Peter Piusz reported that 162 Parent Clubs had submitted health member or parent club who requests their assistance.
statements, which are now part of the Marketplace listings. Individual
clubs are asked to monitor these listings frequently so that any fraudu- Both the Bulldog and the French Bulldog clubs are considering chang-
lent listings can be identified and removed. (If ATCA members note ing their breed standards so that possible dog colors may be labelled
any irregularities, please report to Public Education Chairman Rita as “standard colors,” “acceptable colors,” or “disqualified colors.” AKC
Farmer so that she can report it to AKC.) staff did not seem very receptive to this idea, and the general opinion
of the delegates was also not supportive.
It was reported that the evening prior, there had been held an ad hoc
committee of 35 delegates interested in the topic of breed sustain- Delegates Meeting:
ability. In response a subcommittee of the Parent Clubs Committee
was appointed and will schedule a regular meeting during the June Chairman Ronald Menaker’s report was to be e-mailed.
delegates meeting. There will also be a presentation on this issue
at the June Parent Club Educational Seminar, which will be held on President Dennis Sprung emphasized the charitable contributions
Sunday, June 10, 2018 just prior to the Delegates Meeting. which the AKC had made over the years, including a total of $26 mil-
lion to the AKC Canine Health Foundation, $7 million to AKC Reunite
Anne Bowes gave the report of Sheila Goffe, V.P. of Government Rela- disaster relief efforts, $3.5 million to search and rescue operations
tions. During the first 2 months of 2018, that AKC GR Department following 9/11, $3 million to the AKC Museum of the Dog, and $1
tracked 1800 bills which might affect the sport. Apparently, legisla- million to the AKC Humane Fund, which awards grants to parent club
tors at all levels are “front-loading” legislative activity so that they can rescue organizations and to domestic violence shelters where pets are
devote the remainder of the year to re-election campaigns. As part of accepted. He also mentioned sponsorship of theriogenology fellow-
the federal Defense Authorization Bill, the AKC is working to insert a ships over a 4-year period and contributions to the International Part-
provision which would require the Department of Defense to report nership of Dogs for work on the “harmonization” of genetic testing.
on measures aimed at breeding more federal “detection dogs.” The
AKC is also assisting on a bill which would address the issue of misrep- The new AKC website will debut on 03/14/2018.
resentation of “service dogs” on airplanes. Individual donations to the
AKC PAC were strongly encouraged. Mark Dunne, who has also been both accessible for questions and
helpful to our club, was promoted to Executive V.P. for Registration
Helen Prince reported that temporary archive staff had been added and Customer Development. Dr. Charles Garvin, currently Board
to assist AKC Archivist Brynn White with the move to new AKC offices Chairman of the AKC CHF, was honored for his 28 years of service as a
at 101 Park Avenue. This is to be completed by September 2018. Be- delegate as well as for his service on the AKC board between 2001-
cause of limited space in the new quarters, there will be an increased 2009 and 2010-2016.
focus on digital archives as well as increased off-site storage. Alan
Kalter reported that 66 Disaster Relief Trailers had been placed in 28 The move to 101 Park Avenue, at the intersection of Park Avenue
states. Six more are being built. A total of 384 clubs have contributed and 40th Street, will place the AKC near Grand Central Terminal, with
to this effort, with AKC Reunite donating $450,000, for a total of $1.25 its 21.9 million visitors per year. The relocated (from St. Louis) AKC
million. Museum of the Dog will have a dedicated entrance. Board member
Dominic Carota narrated a visual presentation of the new museum,
Larry Sorenson stated that the Parent Club Self-evaluation Program which should turn out to be a stunning exhibition and meeting space.
had begun as a pilot in 2013 and that some clubs who had first par- Opening is slated for January 2019. A highlight will be a perpetual pa-
ticipated had not been “carried forward” as having participated. This rade of illuminated dog silhouettes around the façade of the first floor.
program has been useful in assisting member clubs to become parent
clubs. Four additional clubs have made this transition.
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