REGISTRY, Breed & kennel Club NEWS

PEDIGREE FRAUD – THE STUD BOOK

Bulldog, Kuvasz, Samoyed - Part One

dateline March 2006:  TheDogPress selected these particular cases of pedigree fraud and stud book corruption because they present unimpeachable evidence.  The plaintiffs are among the most credible and respected names in the sport. These are not what AKC would have the public believe; just a simple mistake or the rare dishonesty of breeders. The pattern of failure to correct, restore and protect the authenticity of AKC pedigrees, aka the Stud Book must be construed as a determined effort to cover up the genetic corruption.

We are encouraged to invest our lives, money and hearts to uphold the concept of pure bred dogs, the value of an AKC pedigree, and to prove the quality of the purebred dog in AKC show rings across the country. We study genetics and bloodlines. Endlessly. Or at least we used to. The newer generation puts less emphasis on the old fashioned concept of breeding a better dog when one can simply buy a better dog. At that point, the genotype and authenticity of the pedigree becomes less important than the phenotype and price.

We are the worker bees, the drones. We are what AKC calls us – “cash cows.”

Yes, we are indeed the “backbone of the sport." It is we who enable AKC to sell its name, shows, products, and the lie that underwrites it all - purebred dogs. Too bad there’s a glitch in the last two words of that sentence. Most are purebred only in the sense that they are from the same “breed” but many don’t even fit that description.

Make no mistake. I am an old school breeder. I love the AKC and all that I once thought it stood for. Because of AKC we had shows and the friends we made there. Dog Shows were our primary social life. Loving dogs has not changed. Only our perception of the purebred and the pedigree has shifted. We have been forced, dragged, screaming and protesting to not only accept the truth but finally, to quit hiding it.

Here are just a few of the cases that have been buried on my hard drive for two decades. I can no longer call myself a breeder of purebred AKC dogs. Neither can you. I can’t keep kidding myself – and the trusting people to whom I sell a puppy. Can you?

If you prefer the ostrich position, read no further. If you are ready to accept the truth of something you too have kept putting to the back of your mind, and more importantly, do something to protect that which you love, then c’mon. I will lead you down the path of disillusionment but at the end of that bramble-lined path, there’s a sunny meadow filled with truth, and for some of us, hope.

These examples were chosen because they are not new. They are well aged, well-fought documentation of stud book fraud that has not been corrected by AKC.

Ms. Bruce Lorenzen is a multi-breed AKC judge who has the determination of her breed, the Bulldog. For nine years, she has tried to get AKC to purge the Bulldog stud book of what has become widespread and deep penetration of deliberately false genetics. Ironically, after years of presenting incontrovertible evidence, at one point, AKC told her “we don’t go back that far.”

Ms. Lorenzen allowed an acquaintance to breed to her male, Bruce’s I’m So Frigate Sexy. “Frexy” as she called him, was a son of the all-time BIS winning, Ch. Heatherbull Bounty’s Frigate, breeder-owner-handled by Jean Hetherington. Let’s be clear here, Hetherington is above reproach in any aspect of this case. She has kindly given consent to use actual names because Frigate’s fame and genetic strength is what the perpetrator was after. Frigate’s name on those pedigrees made the resulting litters worth more than their weight in gold. Jean retired in 2005 from the AKC Registration department so one can only imagine how painful this was for her. Nothing more need be said except “how would you feel???”

There were seven puppies in the litter. Three of the pups died but Lorenzen says that didn’t stop the bitch owner’s daughter Gina from using their registration papers. In this case, a dog was given one of the blue slips that instantly made him a son of the judge’s dog and a grandson of the famous all time top winning bulldog. The fraudulent sire was registered as Sir Newton Of Georgetown. As was expected, Newton was heavily used at stud, more than enough to be required to put DNA on record….

If anything could be worse, imagine this - the stud book lie is not even based on  what we would call a “decent” dog and Lorenzen has reason to believe Newton was not even an AKC registered dog!  Gina Price is accused of criminal fraud and she continues to sell falsely registered bulldogs. Her kennel name was Rebel Ridge but in mid-March, she changed it to CSA. She is said to be a multi-breed operator and self-confessed puppy mill. She is/has been investigated by the Tennessee Attorney General’s office and we are told the FBI is investigating her for actions involving her dog business. Details on that aspect of this case will follow as they become available.

In a nutshell, when Bruce found out what the bitch owner's daughter had done, the mother and daughter fell out.  Bruce then persuaded the mother to have the dam’s DNA taken. The dam and the real sire’s DNA proved Sir Newton was not a Frigate grandson.  There was other first hand testimony and tons of documentation but the DNA was conclusive. Bruce sent a letter to AKC, believing the Bulldog stud book would be promptly corrected and the perpetrator suspended.

Nothing was done. Bruce Lorenzen has been unrelenting for nine long years, trying to force AKC to do what their Mission Statement once proclaimed was its purpose….  Facts are facts.  AKC has done nothing to restore the bulldog stud book.  Was it too high profile?  Who bought those valuable pups falsely represented as grandsons of the great Frigate? 

One has only to Google "Gina Price" and "Rebel Ridge" to find dozens of sworn complaints and charges. An AKC investigation should have been initiated on its own.  Details of this shocking story will follow.

We found this site so graphic about Gina Price and all her alias sites, we include it here for your reference.  We don't know the people but we take this as very credible along with tons of other documentation.    http://www.rebelridgekennelsisbad.com/

Gini Addamo, Symphony Samoyeds, former SCA Data Coordinator, appealed to the Samoyed Club Of America to enforce ethics charges against a person she knew had falsely registered a litter from a co-owned bitch. Her co-owner had said the bitch x-rayed dysplastic and Gini agreed to have her spayed and placed in a pet home meeting Gini’s approval. She later discovered a litter had been registered out of the bitch. SCA refused to act so Gini contacted AKC. Co-owner cat fight? Hardly! Gini has spared no expense to gather irrefutable DNA evidence that the alleged dam can not be the dam of the litter. AKC refused to act and worse yet, interceded with the judgment that the parent club doesn't have to either, stating in a letter, the parent club “does not have jurisdiction over filing false registration papers with the AKC” nor over “defrauding the public by selling puppies with false papers” or “lying to an AKC inspector.”

So it becomes more complex. Breeding a dysplastic bitch is in clear violation of the Parent Club COE. Yet the SCA Board has refused to act on the evidence. To further complicate the issue, there is the matter of stud book fraud and instead of taking charge and initiating an investigation, AKC is stalling and in the meantime has made what Gini feels is a series of grievous errors in making decisions for the SCA. Decisions which have the net result, intended or not, of allowing the club to ignore its own Code Of Ethics against someone who Gini alleges “has friends on the (SCA) Board.”

Meet Darla Lofranco, recognized as one of the top Kuvasz breeders in North America. Darla says her dog Trevor was used without her knowledge or consent, the result being numerous litters illegally AKC registered. Lofranco said “a lot of money” is involved because progeny from some of those litters are being shown by professional handlers and they are winning. She points out huge financial repercussions could have been avoided had AKC acknowledged its gross error in registering any of these litters. Pain, anger, resentment, all would have been less had AKC made immediate corrections instead of practicing what has become characteristic denial.

• Lofranco did not sign as the stud owner.

• Trevor was CKC registered and he was

• ineligible for AKC registration because his owner was not a U.S. resident,

• therefore according to AKC rules, he could not legally sire AKC registered litters.

AKC’s solution to Darla’s outraged persistence was to finally cancel Trevor’s registration number (since he could not have been registered anyway) and insert his litter brother’s name and registration number on seven litters. Thus the AKC stud book reflects a litter brother (Tank) as the sire.  That was not okay with Lofranco who emphatically states “they (AKC) don’t tell us who sires a litter, we tell them.”

There is a happy ending but it obscures a surprise ending that will shock everyone, including AKC.

Everyone understands that the integrity of the stud book depends on the honesty of the person registering a dog or a litter. But when corruption has been proven beyond reasonable doubt, there isn’t a dog owner on the planet who can understand why AKC would fail to correct the stud book.

UKC introduced DNA proudly and without fear. It appears AKC resisted as long as possible and in fact, this editor was told by a very prominent AKC judge that is exactly what happened. By contrast, when the UKC spots an unlikely genetic combination, like the cat registries have done for decades, they notify the litter owner. DNA will be taken, recorded, and upon satisfactory proof of parentage, UKC corrects the registry then and there. This insures the validity of the piece of paper for which people pay dearly.

We invite and encourage AKC officials to respond with an explanation of why nothing has been done to insure the integrity of its stud book. We hope AKC will feel an obligation to the public. We hope especially that AKC will respond with definitive action to reassure generations of dedicated breeders that their work is not in vain.

There is much more to these cases and many more cases. We risk censure and retribution with this series but our board has decided it is worth the risk. 

Will AKC clean up the stud book?  It has been forced to do so in Shetland Sheepdogs, by another judge, Lynette Saltzman.  Will a company that is losing its customer base at an alarming rate prove responsive to public outcry?  The American Kennel Club, Incorporated has lost registrations every year since the early 90s.  Is that enough to force responsiveness from the board? So far, the answer is a resounding "no" but changes in the board could result in a change of attitude and direction.  We love AKC, we support AKC. 

WE are about dogs.

Pedigree Fraud: Part Two

Dateline: Thursday 3/16/06 Inbox already overflowing.  So far, roughly 50% "your kidding!" 10% "Unsubscribe me" and the remaining 40% "It's about time!"

Several have asked "Who wrote this?" As Editor, I apologize for not explaining:

• The Article is written by our Subscribers, current and past. 

• The facts are provided by the principals in these first examples. 

• Everything is backed up by hard copy. 

• As Editor, Barbara J. Andrews put the words together.

We are trying to reach AKC for comment and assurance that these high profile cases will be corrected.  The internal workings of AKC are really none of "our" business, until it adversely affects us. For the most part, AKC provides incalculable benefit to dogs and dog owners but like any big corporation, profit (and lately, financial survival), is the primary goal.  There may have been an altruistic motive in the beginning but times change.

For  the many who are asking "Will they fix the studbook?" realistically, the answer is that they can't.  Speaking as a forty year supporter of AKC, this editor can tell you that there have been people within the Organization over the years who have risked rocking the boat by trying.   They were thwarted by the immensity of the problem and let's face it, the wheel that works gets no attention.

In the opinion of many inside and outside of AKC, when something is this broken, it can't be fixed.  It could however be rebuilt.  Like in Shelties... well, sorta....

Pedigree Fraud Part One - Bulldogs, Kuvasz, Samoyeds
Pedigree Fraud Part Two - Bulldogs, Kuvasz, Samoyeds
Pedigree Fraud Part Three - Mastiffs
Pedigree Fraud Part Four  - Kuvasz

DoodleDog's pup is well trained!  Just copy and paste  any or all of the above links into a REGULAR email message, then select as many recipients as you want!!   Right from your contacts list.  This puppy can handle it!  He's his daddy's boy.  Cool eh?  He's here to help you share the news.... nope, he's not for sale, this pup's a keeper!

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