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AKC and the Irish
Red and White Setters
by Mark R. Atkins
(with sidebar by Greg Williams, see below)
I have been
following a number of stories and columns in “The Dog Press”
concerning issues that other organizations and owners have been
having with AKC's policies and staff. I have recently been exposed
to some of these behaviors. Frankly, I wonder if the AKC can or will
remain the “top dog” purebred dog registry in the U.S. for much
longer.
 I have been an Irish Red and White Setter owner for the past six
years or so. This breed was entered into the AKC’s Foundation Stock
Service (FSS) in 2002 by Ms. Curtis Humphreys of the former Irish
Red and White Setter Club of America (IRWSCA) who kept the original
stud book for this breed in the U. S. Curtis and her husband Bob
have been involved in the breed since 1981. In fact, they imported
the first three dogs into this country in 1983.
In 2002 when Humphrey presented the stud book to AKC, she and Elaine
Dorwart of AKC reviewed all of the animals in the book. Dorwart
accepted them all on behalf of AKC. Some of the dogs did not have
full three-generation pedigrees behind them, Dorwart assured
Humphrey that once these dogs met the three generations within the
stud book, all would transfer to AKC “full” registration. Subsequent
email communications were sent to other IRWSCA members confirming
the details of this agreement. Any dogs that failed to meet that
rule would be excluded from “full” AKC registration. This rule
appears on AKC's web page at:
http://www.akc.org/reg/fss_details.cfm under the section
entitled "FSS Recording and Certificates.” It reads as below:
“When a dog is recorded in the Foundation Stock Service®, it is
issued a numbered FSS® Certificate. This certificate indicates that
the dog is the product of a purebred sire and dam of the same breed.
In some cases, a breeder will determine that a dog should be
recorded with "limited" status. A limited FSS® Certificate indicates
that no offspring of the dog is eligible to be recorded in the FSS®.
Dogs with two-generation pedigrees, one-generation
pedigrees, or names of sire and dam only are eligible for enrollment
in FSS® as the foundation stock of future generations.
FSS® Certificates will be issued to all dogs enrolled
in FSS.”
Note: Any dog that has less than
three-generations will not move into full AKC recognition.
This rule has been totally ignored by the current AKC staff and
Mari-Beth O'Neill of AKC's Special Services Department. She has
responded that the reason for the cancellation of certain dogs and
their progeny is because they were "appropriately registered in the
Field Dog Stud Book as Irish Setters and therefore should not have
been recorded as an Irish Red and White Setter in FSS.” While on its
surface this seems like a reasonable ruling, the fact is that ALL
Irish Red and White setters have a lot of Irish setter influence.
Nearly extinct in the mid-1900s, the breed was revived in an Irish
Kennel Club (IKC) sanctioned outcross program(s) using the few
remaining Irish Red and White Setters (actual number varies
depending on account) and a very close relative, the Irish setter. A
good and fairly concise breed history is available at
http://website.lineone.net/~irws/rickvanetten.htm. The
dogs which AKC is excluding all are derived from AKC-registered
Irish setter stock which were accepted as breeding stock into the
breed for many years.
 The breeder of the two excluded American dogs, Snowfire Copper and
Snowfire Gold Dust, was William Jennings of Kentucky. His account of
the foundation of these dogs is available at
http://website.lineone.net/~irws/jennings.htm. Jennings
was neither a journalist nor an extremely well educated man, so his
account must be carefully read to be precisely understood.
Jennings tried many things to achieve the end result of Snowfire
Copper, but throughout the article he is careful to distinguish
between "Irish Red setters" and red setters. At one point he uses
English setter and "Irish Red setter with the out cross" in the same
breath. This statement is considered by some who attack his dogs to
be a damning revelation that Snowfire Copper was derived from an
English setter out cross. This accusation is simply false. In the
closing paragraphs of his account he states his truth:
Any white coming from the red setters with their out cross will
surely be credited to the English setter. But, it is possible for
some of it to come from some of the old Irish setters. You simply
would not know it.
On his final attempt to draw out "the old red and white genes,"
Jennings used the AKC-registered stock and found what he was looking
for, as he always reasoned he would. His end result, however, could
NOT be registered as an Irish Red and White setter. AKC did
not recognize the breed in 1984 when Copper was whelped, nor did
FDSB. At
http://www.akc.org/rules/policymanual.cfm?page=7#AmericanFieldIrishSetters
it is noted that as of 1975, American Field registered Irish setters
would not be transferred to AKC under a request by the Irish Setter
Club of America (ISCA), so he registered the dogs where he could-in
AKC-as Irish setters. Also, “color-red and white patched" was an
option for an Irish setter color at that time. Snowfire Copper's
ancestors were all post-1975, legally registered dogs and
accepted into FSS by Elaine Dorwart of AKC.
A second policy AKC is ignoring can be found at
http://www.akc.org/rules/policymanual.cfm?page=7#UKCPedigrees
under the heading of “UKC Pedigrees (February 1996 Board Meeting).
It states:
“Three-generation UKC pedigrees are acceptable for
the enrollment of a dog in the Foundation Stock Service.”
This policy is short, sweet, and to the point. Following it, I
submitted copies of my UKC pedigrees to Mari-Beth O'Neill at AKC.
Despite its own printed policy, my dogs were declined. That is two
policies AKC is ignoring just for our one breed!
 Additionally, I have spoken with Lt. Col. Wallace Pede, (Ret.) about
some of these issues as he is working with the AKC judging
associations’ issues concerning the "conflict of interest" ruling by
AKC. Pede has shed a bit of light on the recent appointment of the
Irish Red and White Setter Association (IRWSA) as parent club of our
breed as the breed moves to “Miscellaneous Class.”
It is worth noting how the IRWSA began. The original breed club, the
Irish Red and White Setter Club of America (IRWSCA) founded by the
Humphreys, became divided over the inclusion of the Jennings lines
and also another dog, Harry. Harry is an Irish setter born to two
red parents in Holland and now accepted as Irish Red and White
setter out cross stock by the IKC. Harry and his progeny, despite
his IKC acceptance, are also being excluded from the AKC registry
under the same reasons as the Snowfire dogs. The Kennel Club in the
United Kingdom does not recognize Harry, so the mix gets even more
complicated. AKC claims to have contacted "The Kennel Club of
Ireland" regarding the issue with Harry, but to my knowledge, there
is no such an organization.
With the controversy over these three dogs, several IRWSCA members
split from the organization to form the IRWSA based in California.
Pede stated that it is an AKC “standard practice” to appoint
"splinter groups" as parent clubs for breeds emerging from FSS. This
seems to be the case of IRWSA, and it has apparently misled AKC into
making decisions based on false information and unqualified “facts.”
 A bit of history reveals that apparently in 2002 that an IRWSA
individual obtained some pedigrees over the Internet without
payment. In June of that year, Richard Knoster, then president of
the IRWSCA, contacted AKC about the offense. In August, he learned
from Elaine Dorwart that his concerns were correct, and that the
party involved had been harshly reprimanded, and the response was
“that they would not do it again.” Knoster stated that Dorwart told
him “…nothing more could be done unless some evidence could be shown
that this situation continued, then she would see to it that further
action be taken.”
In December 2002, however, IRWSCA members became concerned that
three IRWSA officers were entering the AKC website through an
“unsecured door” and tampering with or manipulating pedigrees. A
letter by Knoster, dated December 30, 2002, was sent to Chuck
Musciano, former vice president of AKC operations, detailing his and
others’ suspicions. Attached were e-mail message numbers off the
“Rossmore” group site and a copy of an AKC Research Pedigree listing
several alterations surrounding his dog, Open Promise. He and others
were concerned that these altered pedigrees “could or would be
distributed to others by the perpetrators and used in a manner to
support their claims against his and others’ dogs.” When the stud
book was first presented to AKC, Knoster and others were assured
that all of the pedigrees of Irish Red and White setter dogs would
be “confidential, as they should be." AKC never addressed any of his
claims, but that same year AKC cancelled Open Promise’s FSS
registration. This is noted today in bold type on the home page of
IRWSA’s website. So, is this the way that AKC chooses to reward
serious unethical actions...award IRWSA parent club status!
This saga continues over what AKC is really about in all of this.
These are issues that are literally being uncovered daily in
our quest for the truth and for closure. The proverbial “snowball”
is still rolling as AKC continues to ignore the facts and evidence.
If Snowfire Copper's heritage from AKC registered stock is suspect,
then the entire Irish setter registry at AKC is as well. Harry, the
Dutch Irish setter, has been accepted by IKC as Irish Red and White
setter breeding stock in the country of origin, yet Snowfire Copper
his heritage, and his progeny are being questioned by AKC, the
“American” Kennel Club. I have serious doubts AKC cares about
their registry, purebred dogs, their judges, and especially about
the people of this sport who with their registration, show, and
other fees pay for AKC’s salaries and operations. AKC is not about
dogs; it is only about money and complete control of those who
participate in its venues.
 Dennis Sprung, AKC president, was quoted in the organization’s
publication “Gazette” in the July 2006 issue while addressing a
group of delegates in a recent meeting. David Powers of the Los
Encino Kennel Club asked Mr. Sprung, "Of the 500,000 registrations
that we've [AKC] dropped over the past few years, do we know how
much of that has gone into the other 23 registries; and do we know,
have any indication of what-how many dogs are registered with the
American Kennel Club and opposition registries?” Mr. Sprung replied,
"...We do know that there is considerable growth in most of the
other 23 registries. We know that their strategic tactics are
working and are clever." He then explains away this concern by
stating, "The reason I say that is AKC has very high standards that
we are not about to lower in any manner; and our rules require
consistent registration by generation. AKC has to be aggressive and
bring people into our registry, keep people in our registry without
circumventing our rules or lowering any of our standards.”
Sprung made additional comments about the tactics of other
registries, but I call attention to only these. In our case, we have
a splinter club, apparently caught “red handed” in wrong doing, but
later confirmed as AKC’s parent organization. Is this upholding
AKC's "very high standards that we are not about to lower in any
manner?” How can AKC be aggressive and bring people into its
registry and keep people in the registry while not circumventing its
rules or lowering any of its standards? Apparently, AKC feels this
may be achieved by circumventing at least two of its own published
rules or policies for our breed and throwing away dogs without cause
from its registry. Mr. Sprung, I believe you have it all wrong!
Throughout this entire ordeal I have found AKC to be the "800-pound
gorilla" of which Col. Pede speaks. It cares neither about the folks
that pay its salaries, nor the dogs within its registry. These
people are easily duped by opinions and conjecture without regard to
facts and verifiable proof of counter claims. Evidence has been
submitted to their board chairman, president and CEO, and several
assistant vice presidents with no reasonable or logical reply. Those
who do respond are a "broken record" of coached replies from its
appointed parent club without regard for reasonable discussion. It
is a pitiful example for a registry of such perceived high
integrity.
 Thankfully, all of my dogs and many of others have been registered
with UKC since 2002. It is a wonderful organization to deal with.
UKC has offered us a venue in which our dogs can compete to achieve
both field and conformation titles…and doing so in a friendly and
family oriented atmosphere. Wayne Cavanaugh, president of UKC, is a
man of extreme integrity and value to the Irish breeds as well as
all the others in its registry. He has fought for our breed and his
registry, and along with Todd Kellam, UKC’s Field Programs vice
president, they have worked closely with us and others to develop
some excellent field trials and show events for us to compete in and
earn titles toward UKC’s “Total Dog” title. For this we are
eternally grateful. We hope other Irish Red and White setter
enthusiasts will join UKC and experience what we have.
Mark R. Atkins
________________________________________ Handy links:
Introduction and History:
AKC and The Irish Red and White Setters, An Old Breed Whose History and Future is in Jeopardy by Mark Atkins.
AKC
Disregards Policies in Controversial Recognition Procedure of Irish Red and White Setters
AKC and the IRWSA Parent
Club's
website language that owners and breeders say is defamatory and
misleading.
Another Viewpoint regarding the Irish Red and White Setters by Chris
James
Well written documentary on a new AKC breed whose long history is in
jeopardy. For those who have followed this situation with AKC, here
is amazing background. Impartially presented, it comes across as
solid fact on a breed that should not be diluted nor changed on the
whim of current AKC policy or people.
comments or news
to contact@thedogpress.com
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