PEDIGREE FRAUD – THE AKC STUD BOOK

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

03|01|06 thru the 12|01|09 UPDATE -  TheDogPress selected these examples of pedigree fraud and AKC Stud Book corruption because the parties presented unimpeachable evidence.  These breeders and judges are among the most credible and respected names in the sport. These are not simple AKC mistakes.  They include court and DNA evidence yet even when one prolific bulldog breeder was convicted and sentenced in Federal Court, AKC refused to correct the bulldog stud book. 

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 what AKC has referred to as  “cash cows.”  As has been pointed out by our readers, it is show breeders who elevate the AKC Stud Book, thus enabling AKC to sell its name, shows, products, and registry services which produce over fifty million dollars per year in income. 

By 2008, registrations were dropping worse than stocks.  2009 got off to an uncertain economic start, and AKC says its registrations continue to plummet.  As 2009 draws to a close, registration figures continue to decline by double digits. Is that an excuse for mixed breed registrations and courting Petland and puppy mill registrations?  Other registries say they have been minimally affected by the economy.  We hope AKC will return to its values, those now represented by other registries which used DNA long before the competition moved AKC 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.

Here are just a few of the cases from our files.  Where AKC once faced an insurmountable problem in trying to correct stud book fraud, that should no longer be the case. Now there are computers and DNA.

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 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 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 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 2009: Gina Price was convicted in Federal Court on July 14, 2008 of mail, wire, social security and income tax fraud, sentences of up 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, trying to force AKC to do what their Mission Statement once proclaimed was its purpose….  Facts are facts but AKC has done nothing 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 sworn complaints and charges. An AKC investigation should have been initiated.  Price and her operations were clearly visible and available to AKC before she was shut down upon her arrest and Federal Court conviction.  If AKC investigated, which we were told they did not, AKC failed to suspend Price.  One of her websites was http://www.rebelridgekennelsisbad.com/   

(Get Insider links below to details and further documentation on each of these cases)

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 a pet home that met Gini’s approval.  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 taking charge and initiating an investigation, AKC is stalling and in the meantime has made what Gini says is a series of grievous errors in making decisions for the SCA. 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.”

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 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 based on simple evidentiary facts:

• Lofranco did not sign as the stud owner.

• Trevor was CKC registered but

• Trevor was 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 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 Trevor's litter brother (Tank) as the sire.  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 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.  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 and uncredible 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, 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, thus insuring 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.

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 many more. We risk censure and retribution with this series but with irrefutable evidence, under freedom of the press, and an obligation to inform, we decided it is worth the risk.

AKC was forced to clean up the Shetland Sheepdog stud book by AKC judge, Lynette Saltzman.  The American Kennel Club, Inc. 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". 

We love AKC, we support AKC.  WE are about purebred dogs. Scroll down to and click for shocking Insider News.

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."  Several have asked "Who wrote this?"

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

• The information/documentation is provided by Subscribers. 

• Everything is backed up by hard copy and AKC communication. 

So "Will AKC fix the studbook?"  Having supported AKC for nearly 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.  When the Sheltie stud book problem got national attention, it was at least partially corrected.

Part Two 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 in Dec. 2009.

More on Sheltie studbook and attempts to get all-time top winning Bulldog removed from fake registrations.  The puppy mill breeder was convicted in Federal Court but the stud book has not been corrected!  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 puppy mill stud book corruption in Mastiffs.  As an Insider, you get facts no one else has and stories no one else will believe!  $19 buys you a full year of serious news, invaluable research, Archives Access, a decade of Suspension and Discipline records, and much more. 

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

Pedigree Fraud Pt. 2 - Sheltie details, AKC substitutes sire on Kuvasz litter registration, rejects new DNA technology, refuses to act on Bulldog breeder convicted in Federal Court...

Pedigree Fraud pt. 3 - Puppy Mill Mastiffs, "pick your sire" papers, AKC rejects DNA, ignores false registrations, proof, and letters (actual copies) from Mastiff Club auction attendee rescuers. 

Pedigree Fraud pt. 4  - Internationally renowned top 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! 

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