AKC DELEGATE'S REPORT 2008 March

AKC DELEGATE'S REPORT 2008 March

At the AKC Delegates' meeting held on March 11, 2008, the following individuals were elected to the AKC Board of Directors: Class of 2010 . . . . Dr. Carmen L. Battaglia; Class of 2012 . . . . Dr. Thomas M. Davies, Walter F. Goodman, and Ronald H. Menaker. (There were 334 Delegates present and voting).

The following Rules applying to Registration and Discipline were voted in: Chapter 3, Section 7. The name of a dog registered with The American Kennel Club will be allowed to be changed provided the dog was whelped in the United States and in cases where the breeder(s) first individually registered the dog, their written consent would be required. A dog name containing a Registered Kennel Name cannot be changed without the written consent of the owner(s) of that Registered Kennel Name. However, no change in the name will be recorded by The American Kennel Club after the dog has produced or sired an AKC registered litter or received an award at an AKC licensed or member event.

Daphna Straus, AKC Assistant Vice President, Business Development, described the newly created AKC Humane Fund which has been created to unite animal lovers in promoting responsible ownership. It is a tax deductible organization which will be seeking contributions to establish educational programs, provide grants to organizations and assist breed rescue. The Fund is seeking contributions from breed parent clubs as well as individual donors.

AKC Canine Health Foundation announced the funding of Grant 748 "SNP Association Mapping for Canine Epilepsy." This is made possible through a unique partnership between several clubs and foundations.

AKC announced the appointment of Margaret Hassell Poindexter as the Assistant Vice President of Compliance replacing Tom Sharp who recently was appointed AKC Companion Animal Recovery Vice President and CEO. Poindexter will oversee Case Management, Inspections and Investigations and DNA Operations Departments. AKC's Compliance Division is charged with ensuring the accuracy of the registry and upholding standards of care and conditions of AKC registered dogs. AKC is the only registry in the U.S. with an on going routine kennel inspection program. In 2007, AKC field inspectors conducted more than 5,600 inspections nationwide and the organization currently has a database of over 425,000 DNA profiles.

At the February 2008 AKC Board meeting, the approval criteria for Obedience judges were revised as follows effective immediately: Provisional judges must judge a minimum of 10 assignments and have judged a minimum of 150 dogs prior to applying for regular status. In addition, 2 satisfactory observations must be completed with the 2nd observation being done within one year prior to the request for regular status. Upon completion of the requirements for provisional status, the applicant may apply for regular status as well as for provisional status for the next class level.

The AKC Board of Directors approved a program called AKC Global Services to provide record keeping and registration processing to international organizations for a negotiated contract fee. This program will allow the AKC to leverage its expertise and infrastructure while offering the highest quality registration processing services to foreign kennel clubs.

AKC has been focusing on PSAs (Public Service Announcements). Their most recent television PSA focused on reminding children and parents about safe courteous behavior around dogs. Titled "Kids Promise", the PSA showed a number of children of different ages vowing not to tease, distract or disrespect dogs. Another PSA called "Blind Date" focuses on reminding people to look for canine characteristics that fit their lifestyle when acquiring a dog. A new PSA will be developed in 2008. To familiarize yourself with the PSAs, view them online at: http://www.akc.org/press_center/psa.cfm.

The AKC Canine Health Foundation and AKC Companion Animal Recovery (CAR) announced their continued funding of studies to determine long-term health impact on dogs deployed to the search and rescue efforts at the World Trade Center and Pentagon sites following the attacks of September 11, 2001. To date, 35 deployed dogs and 15 control dogs enrolled in the study have died. (A Vizsla who worked 911 has also died).

An article I wrote for the AKC Delegates' newsletter Perspectives (March 2008) is featured on the cover. It is entitled Hunting: An Ancient Tradition and Way of Life - Is It Going to Become Extinct?" It's focus is negative legislation in states that are closing down field trial grounds. If anyone would like a copy, please let me know and I'll send one.

Remember I represent you with the American Kennel Club. Please feel free to call me anytime. Phone and fax: (434) 374-4051. E-mail: Lynhar@verizon.net.