interesting article from the NYT

[joe l]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/sp...r.html?hp&_r=1&

[huntergreen]

this is why there is a section on here on how to choose a breeder. i am not a big fan of the akc. i can go to a pet store, purchase a puppy and then register said puppy mill dog with the akc. enough said.

[Marnie]

If the AKC had to do field inspections, it would cost a fortune to register a dog. I've always looked at the AKC like the IRS. They are the keepers of the paperwork but seldom actually do audits. Local breed clubs could/should be doing the inspections, IMHO, but they won't.

[AJT]

Reading the article spurred a question...what do other countries do? What is the equivalent to the AKC in Germany or other countries? Are other organizations mission statement much more stricter on quality checks? And are those federally funded or private?

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

- Terrierman's Daily Dose -

- Terrierman's Daily Dose -

Hunte Corporation' s President Embraced By GSD Club And AKC and a thread from here:
all about byb and Hunte corporation

Not sure how/if they continue to do business with them...but here is their site and logos: The Hunte Corporation - Breed Integrity & Selection

There is the FCI in Europe: FCI - Fédération Cynologique Internationale but I do not know enough to do a compare and contrast.

[Liesje]

This is what I posted on a friend's Facebook in response to the article:

I wish buyers would understand that the AKC is simply a registry and that the breed clubs/parent clubs are the ones that need to crack down on their standards and ostracize bad breeders. I do not support what the GSD has become in the USA so I am not a member of the GSDCA (German Shepherd parent club in the USA) and instead am a member of a GSD club that I believe promotes a real German Shepherd dog (USCA). An AKC registration is like having a Social Security Number; it speaks nothing about the quality and condition of the dogs or their breeding, it's just a way for me to prove my dog's pedigree and record DNA.

[LifeofRiley]

Interesting follow up blog post from the Humane Society...

AKC Standing in the Way of Dog Welfare

In the run-up to today’s opening events for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden, the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer did some major reporting about the startling obstructionism of the American Kennel Club on animal welfare issues. It’s not news to me or to The HSUS. I wrote about the AKC as a huge impediment to change in my book, The Bond, in which I told the story of Ted Paul, a dog breeder from Oregon and a highly respected show judge, who was ostracized from the fraternity for supporting a bill to establish humane breeding standards.

Several months ago, The HSUS issued a report revealing that the AKC has opposed 80 state and local bills to establish some minimum humane breeding standards for the care of dogs. The AKC not only opposed Prop B in Missouri (the nation’s leading puppy mill state), but similar bills in Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. In fact, I can’t think of a time when the AKC supported a bill to establish standards of care for dogs on large-scale breeding operations. They even opposed legislation that had nothing to do with breeding – such as prohibiting the debarking of dogs and preventing dogs from being left in hot cars or chained for long periods of time.


The AKC is financially conflicted on the issue. Their revenue model depends on breeders being registered with the AKC, and selling “AKC-approved” puppies. If they were to crack down on puppy mills, they’d be sacrificing a portion of their revenue. It’s not surprising to me, then, that HSUS raids of illegal puppy mill operations have consistently found those breeders affiliated with the AKC. One of the most notorious of these operators is one we brought to the attention of the New York Times: a Montana breeder, Mike Chilinski, who was convicted of 91 counts of cruelty for his gross mistreatment of malamutes he was breeding and selling. One two-year-old dog we found on the property weighed less than 25 lbs. and has more than doubled his weight since being rescued.

The AKC says it has an inspections program, but The Times reported there are just 9 inspectors and no public record of their inspections. In fact, the AKC does not make its standards for kennel inspections public, so we have little way of knowing if there’s any practical meaning to those inspections.

There’s one other element of this story that The HSUS has focused on: the conformation standards that lead to genetic and hereditary problems for so many purebreds, who have flattened faces, elongated backs, weak hips, and other physical characteristics that come as a consequence of selective breeding. Many of the dog shows for particular breeds value external characteristics over the underlying health and welfare of the dogs. That’s why so many animals from these breeds have chronic health problems, shortened life-spans, and a severely diminished quality of life. Our Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy held an important conference on this issue, “The Purebred Paradox,” to launch an examination of what may be the most pressing welfare issue for dogs and AKC decided not to attend.

The AKC also recently released its annual top 10 list of the most popular breeds in America. If The HSUS released a top 10 list of the most common breeds found in puppy mills, the two lists would be curiously similar – and so would the roster of health problems that veterinarians treat from malformed and poorly bred dogs. With Labrador Retrievers at the top of the ranking for 10 years in a row, it comes as no surprise that they are frequently found at the raids we conduct in these mass-breeding facilities; they may suffer from as many as 50 chronic health problems associated with breeding for a certain conformation. In Vermont in 2011, our Animal Rescue Team assisted in the removal of over 50 dogs from a puppy mill that only bred Labrador Retrievers. Seems the perpetrators of this large-scale animal cruelty know where the money is. In three separate Central Missouri puppy mill rescues we did in March of 2011, almost every single breed on the AKC’s top ten was represented, in staggering numbers.

The HSUS has formed a Breeders Advisory and Resource Council, and it is composed of responsible breeders from around the country who have a particular interest in improving the lives of dogs bred in the inhumane, commercial breeding facilities known as puppy mills. BARC members work with The HSUS to help the public to identify responsible breeders and to avoid supporting puppy mills. It is our great hope to work with responsible breeders so we can not only root out puppy mills, but also make sure that breeding practices produce healthy dogs, rather than dogs destined for a short, painful life because of their genetic characteristics.

[Kelly&Kip]

A counterpoint to the NYT article.

Color it yellow: NYT uses discredited sources to dump on AKC | National Animal Interest Alliance

[LifeofRiley]

Originally Posted by Liesje

I wish buyers would understand that the AKC is simply a registry and that the breed clubs/parent clubs are the ones that need to crack down on their standards and ostracize bad breeders.

If only it was that simple. Fact of the matter is that the AKC is not simply a registry, they are a powerful lobbying force that is doing more harm than good.

[LifeofRiley]

Originally Posted by Kelly&Kip

A counterpoint to the NYT article.

Color it yellow: NYT uses discredited sources to dump on AKC | National Animal Interest Alliance

Be careful of who you choose to cite...

The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is a front group and industry funded lobbying organization for animal commerce and agribusiness based in Portland, Oregon. They are not the friend of most animal or dog lovers.