PEDIGREE FRAUD – THE AKC STUD BOOK

Bulldog, Kuvasz, Samoyed AKC Stud Book Corruption - Part 1

TheDogPress presents these examples of pedigree fraud and AKC Stud Book corruption due to the unimpeachable evidence provided by the involved parties.
 

03|01|06 thru 12|01|09

These breeders and judges are among the most respected names in the sport.  Lofranco documents simple AKC mistakes compounded by pathetic cover-up.  Incontrovertible DNA evidence ignored in Sammys.  Even when the famous bulldog breeder-importer was sentenced in Federal Court, AKC still refused to correct the bulldog stud book.

Like the international Akita scandal and the Banchory Sheltie case (we have hard copy on both), correction would have led to cancelled registrations, acknowledging massive fraud, and crippling of the cash cow. It should be noted that the Mexican Kennel Club (Federacion Canofila Mexicana) under President Thelma Von Thaden, expunged the studbook and cancelled the fake Akita registrations.  AKC refused.  In a similar case, Canada (CKC) did likewise.  And AKC refused.

There were many such acidic examples before TheDogPress.  We selected current cases in hopes AKC would be more attentive to its very foundation and the only reason it exists!  Stud book/pedigree fraud erodes all that AKC once was and falsely claims to be today.  Whereas at one time AKC faced huge logistical problems in correcting stud book fraud, that excuse is no longer valid. AKC was computerized in the 90s and canine DNA was perfected.

Show breeders invest their lives, money and hearts to uphold the concept of pure bred dogs, the value of an AKC pedigree, and the genetic superiority of the purebred dog.   We are much more than “cash cows.”  It is show breeders who elevate the AKC Stud Book, thus enabling AKC to market its name, shows, products, and registry services which produce over sixty million dollars per year in income.

By 2008, registrations were dropping worse than stocks.  2009 got off to an uncertain economic start and AKC registrations continue to plummet by double digits. Is that an excuse for mixed breed registrations, courting Petland and puppy mill registrations?  AKC must return to its (purported) values or become "just another puppy mill registry."   Few AKC breeders know that UKC used DNA years before AKC was forced to do so.  We're told other Registries do have good inspection and pedigree credibility.  Why do we still support AKC?  Because, like many of you, it is what we do.

Warning:  If you prefer the ostrich position, read no further. If you are ready to confront that which you've only heard about, then c’mon, I will lead you down the path of disillusionment.  But at the end, there’s truth in the bright light of exposure, and in truth, there is hope.  These cases were chosen because they are well aged, well-fought documentation of stud book fraud which AKC refused to correct.

Brief Summaries of Stud Book Fraud

Ms. Bruce Lorenzen is a multi-breed AKC judge who has the determination of her breed, the Bulldog. For over nine years, she steadfastly tried to get AKC to purge the Bulldog stud book of specific  fraudulent registrations.  Ironically, after years of presenting incontrovertible evidence, at one point, AKC told her “we don’t go back that far.”

Ms. Lorenzen's documentation related to her male, Bruce’s I’m So Frigate Sexy, a son of the all-time top 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 the pedigrees made the resulting litters worth 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???

The stud book corruption is based on Lorenzen "Newton" a dog Lorenzen said was not even an AKC registered dog!  He was widely used by Gina Price, accused and convicted of criminal fraud under the kennel name Rebel Ridge, which she changed mid-March. Price was a multi-breed operator and self-confessed puppy mill. She is/has been investigated by the Tennessee Attorney General’s office and the FBI for fraud involving her dog business. Convictions are sought on IRS and financial frauds rather than animal abuse because they carry much heavier penalty.

Update |  Gina Price was convicted in Federal Court on July 14, 2008 of mail, wire, social security and income tax fraud, sentenced to 8 years in federal prison.

When Bruce found out what Gina had done, the mother and daughter fell out and 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 it itself, conclusive.  Bruce sent a letter to AKC, believing the Bulldog stud book would be promptly corrected and the perpetrator suspended.  AKC did nothing. Bruce Lorenzen has been unrelenting for nine long years.  AKC has refused to restore the bulldog stud book.  Was it too high profile?  What wealthy or powerful people bought those valuable pups on the basis of their famous pedigree?

One has only to Google "Gina Price" and "Rebel Ridge" to find dozens of other sworn complaints and charges. An AKC investigation should have been initiated without prompting.  Price and her operations were clearly visible and available to AKC before she was shut down, arrested, and convicted in Federal Court.  Gina Price was a high class, high dollar puppy mill that generated big $$$ for AKC.  AKC failed to suspend Price. The Price case represents AKC position on puppy mills which represents the bulk of AKC registration income.

(Get Insider details and documentation below - plus Mastiff Stud Book Fraud)

Gini Addamo, Symphony Samoyeds, former Samoyed Club Of America (SCA) Data Coordinator, appealed to the national parent club 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 so Gini agreed to have her spayed and placed in an approved pet homel.  She later discovered a litter had been registered out of the bitch. SCA refused to act so Gini contacted AKC.

Gini spared no expense to gather irrefutable DNA evidence which proved the alleged dam could not be the dam of the litter. AKC refused to act and worse yet, returned 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 Code Of Ethics, yet the SCA Board refused to act on the evidence. Then there is the matter of stud book fraud and instead of initiating an investigation, AKC is stalling and in the meantime has made what Gini says is a series of grievous errors. AKC's action 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.”  AKC collusion, parent club corruption; it is a straight-forward stoy.

Darla Lofranco, a Canadian, is recognized as one of the top Kuvasz breeders in North America. Darla says her dog Trevor was used at stud when he was away being shown and that it was done 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 shown by professional handlers and winning at Group and Specialty levels.

She points out huge financial repercussions could have been avoided had AKC acknowledged its gross error in registering those litters. Pain, anger, resentment, all would have been less had AKC made immediate corrections based on simple evidentiary facts:

• Lofranco did not sign as the stud owner.

• Trevor was CKC registered but ineligible for AKC registration because his breeder/owner Darla, 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 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 Trevor's litter brother (Tank) as the sire of dozens of show puppies.  Lofranco emphatically states the obvious “they (AKC) don’t tell us who sires a litter, we tell them.”

Everyone understands that the integrity of the stud book depends on that of the person registering 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.  Even worse, how could AKC further corrupt generations of pedigrees by changing the name of the sire!. It happened.  Darla sent both pedigrees to prove the unthinkable.

Nov. 2009 more incredible AKC actions as the Kuvasz Case Continues for Insiders.

UKC introduced DNA proudly and without fear. Many people believe AKC resisted DNA 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, they notify the litter owner. DNA will be taken, recorded, and upon satisfactory proof of parentage, UKC correctly registers the litter, thus insuring the validity of the piece of paper for which people pay dearly.

We invite 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 and to the breeders who pay to register litters.

Fall 2009.  Three years have gone by since this information was revealed and AKC has not responded and so far as we know, none of these fraudulent issues have been resolved.

There is much more to these cases, and others not yet mentioned. We have weighed our duty to purebred dogs and to the breeders and buyers who invest so much love and money against tarnishing the stud book and risk of AKC  retribution.  The result is a belief in not only freedom of the press but our professional obligation to inform.

AKC was forced to clean up the Shetland Sheepdog stud book by AKC judge, Lynette Saltzman. Is this exposure enough to force responsiveness from the AKC board?  So far, the answer is a resounding "no" - not under this board!

Your comments continue to flood in.  So far, roughly 90% are positive, 10% are from those who refuse to confront reality and say "Unsubscribe me."  To our knowledge, as of Dec. 2010, nothing has been done to correct the AKC stud book.

Having supported AKC for over 50 years, this editor can tell you that there have been people within AKC who, over the years have tried.   They were thwarted by the immensity of the problem.  Today they are either complicit in corruption or powerless to stop it.

In Part 2, Lofranco shows AKC Reg. Dept corrected its registration mistakes by changing the name of the sire to the properly registered litter brother!!  Oh but it is more complex than that and continues today.

There is so much more and only the AKC Delegates have the power to insure a future for purebred dogs.  And those Delegates are voted in (or out) by fanciers who either acknowledge this apple is rotten to the core and demand correction, or we just accept it.  Which will it be?  If you think this is all unbelievable, wait until you get to Parts Three and Four, which covers event as they happen, Mitochondrial DNA, and the in-your-face Mastiff puppy mill stud book corruption.  As an Insider, you get the rest of the story!  $19 buys you a full year of serious news, invaluable research, Archives Access, a decade of Suspension and Discipline records, and much more.

If you are already an Insider, just click the icon but be patient, it takes a minute for News Hound to sniff you out and verify your key.  If you want conclusive evidence and more detail, plus full access to other Insider Info, click on any of the stories below.

You have just read Pedigree Fraud Part One - Bulldogs, Kuvasz, Samoyeds

Pedigree Fraud Pt. 2 - Sheltie details, AKC rejects DNA technology, details on Bulldog breeder convicted in Federal Court...

Pedigree Fraud pt. 3 - Puppy Mill Mastiffs exposes "pick your sire" papers, AKC still rejects DNA, ignores false registrations, and letters of outrage from Mastiff Club auction attendees.

Pedigree Fraud pt. 4  - Internationally renowned Kuvasz breeder proves her corruption case.  AKC made a mistake but then instead of correcting it... well, you won't believe this one, especially the Dec. 2009 Update!

AKC & Kuvasz Stud Book Fraud - Pedigree Fraud & Stud Book corruption made worse by AKC as documented in exclusive coverage of the Kuvasz Case by breeder, Darla Lofranco.

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PEDIGREE FRAUD – THE AKC STUD BOOK