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Parent Clubs Committee: The campaign to help more parent clubs become members clubs
resulted in four taking this step during 2017.
Sheila Goffe, AKC V.P. of Government Relations advised that any AKC
club members should immediately consult her department with re- Mari-Beth O’Neill, V.P. of Sport Services, reported that, in support of
spect to any legislative matters in which they might be tempted to get the Junior Recognition Program, that four “versatility” scholarships will
involved, even if very local and or apparently limited in applicability. be awarded to juniors this weekend. Success in at least three different
She now has eight staff members, including regional representatives, types of events was required of applicants. The Central Ohio Kennel
the most recently hired of whom will focus on California issues and be Club hosted more than 25 veterinary students at its weekend shows.
stationed in the Sacramento area. This followed a “lunch and learn” session for the students, many of
whom had never previously attended a dog show.
The presence of AKC legislative staff will demonstrate the involve-
ment of the AKC in legislation and government relations and allow the The question of exactly how many days of events a local or regional
dog fancy to speak with a unified voice. The last thing desired is that specialty club can hold during a given year remains unanswered, but
multiple individuals present different information and represent them- two would seem to be the emerging answer.
selves as speaking for the AKC. The proper role of local clubs and of
the parent club legislative liaisons as well is to constantly monitor any Mark Dunn, V.P. of Registration, has produced numerous breed reg-
legislative activity and report it immediately to the Government Rela- istration statistics for the years 2008 to 2016. This was published just
tions Department at AKC. They are also strongly encouraged to join this week and sent to parent club presidents, corresponding secretar-
the closed AKC Government Relations Facebook page and to share the ies, and delegates. Despite overall increases in dog and litter registra-
information posted if pertinent to their clubs. Also, on that Facebook tions over the past 4 years, some breeds, among them the Australian
page, three recent policy and position statements have been posted. Terrier, continue to show declining numbers and are now regarded as
These include the training and possible certification of groomers, “vulnerable breeds”—e.g. those in danger of extinction. This report
support for the breeding of explosive detection dogs, and the restric- has been sent to all the members and printed in Issue 4, 2017, of The
tion of court-awarded “non-economic damages,” including “emotional Talkabout. The AKC board permitted the publication of this data in
distress,” for dogs injured by those caring for them professionally. The the hopes that it would spur those clubs with declining numbers to
trend to award “non-economic damages” supports the goal of animal action. The Scottish Terrier Club, has noted that the numbers of Scot-
rights enthusiasts to establish the personhood of dogs, and, if damage ties registered decreased from 7000 to 1015 per year between 1998
awards are large, will discourage individuals, including veterinarians, and 2017. They formed a committee, surveyed club members and
from providing appropriate professional care for dogs. Similarly, al- pet owners, and developed some recommendations which have been
though “exemptions” for breeders and others whose dogs are involved published and which I will attempt to obtain and forward to the mem-
in AKC activities are superficially attractive if offered as part of spay bership. The need for mentoring new breeders was emphasized. Both
and neuter legislation, this may have unintended consequences, such members and pet owners felt that their breed quarterly magazine was
as subjecting breeders and hobbyists to commercial regulations and essential in maintaining their interest in the breed.
any such exemptions may subsequently disposed-of quietly in follow-
up legislation. The AKC Government Relations Department also Alexandra Aleskovsky, Executive V.P. of Growth, summarized a newly
opposes the expansion of permission to show sterilized dogs outside developed process for the approval of breed images and content
of the veteran classes because this undercuts the stated purpose of published in all formats or used by licensees. This had arisen out of
AKC conformation events, which is to show and select dogs for future complaints by parent clubs that their breeds were not being present-
breeding. (Such an extension had been proposed by the Pembroke ed pictorially in conformance with their standards, especially in the
Welsh Corgi Club but was withdrawn on the advice of AKC Govern- representation of dogs with unacceptable colors. The goal is to insure
ment Relations.) accuracy “across AKC touch points.” For any club member who finds
images which are not representative of what the club wishes to pres-
The work of Brynn White at the AKC archives in digitalizing the ent to the public, comments are to be directed to akccontent@akc.org
studbooks and all previous issues of the AKC Gazette continues. All
licensed club catalogues up to 1983 have been digitalized. This work Delegates Meeting:
has been interrupted by the pending move of the AKC to new quar-
ters for its New York operations, which will include the AKC Museum President Dennis Sprung said that the current AKC National Champi-
of the Dog as well as a library. She has continued work, however, with onship in Orlando was the largest event in the history of the AKC with
member clubs to help them to take stock of what archival mate- over 8600 entries.
rial they possess and the recommended process for digitalizing this
information. President Sprung gave six “Visionary Awards” to recipients who had
made significant contributions to the sport. These included: Susan
Board Member Alan Kalter reported that the Disaster Relief Trailer Hamil, Shoreline Dog Fanciers Association, a previous “breeder of the
project, which began 4 years ago, now includes 64 trailers with an year,” chairman of the delegates Canine Health Committee and board
additional 7 in process. 21 of these have been deployed in recent member of the AKC Canine Health Foundation and OFA; Lee Arnold,
hurricanes, tornados, floods, western wild fires and even an apartment Southern Colorado Kennel Club, Inc., previous AKC board member
fire. During the recent fires in Ventura County, CA, 120 pets were known for soliciting celebrity endorsements for the AKC, including
housed through the deployment of two trailers. $590,000 has been that of Willle Nelson; Lynette and Stanley Saltzman, Stanley being the
contributed to disaster relief efforts by members of the dog fancy, and longest seated delegate at 46 years, and both of whom were respon-
$210,000 has been contributed directly by AKC Reunite for hurricane sible for addition of the seventh (herding) group; James W. Smith,
relief efforts in Texas and Puerto Rico. Washington State Obedience Training Club and 2016 Breeder of the
Year; and Ronald H. Menaker, current AKC Board Chairman, founder
Another Parent Club Conference has been desired for several years. and past president of the Museum of the Dog, and Westminster Show
There appear to be current plans to provide a similar but somehow Chairman for 13 years.
different “educational event” just prior to the June 2018 Delegate
Meeting in Newark.

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