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For as long as you’ve been in dogs, you have been
conditioned to abhor puppy mills and pet shops. The worst
offense for show breeders was to sell puppies to a pet shop. Now
the American Kennel
Club contracts with Petland to market puppies through its
nationwide pet shop chain.
 Barbara
Andrews ©
The Dog Press 09|13|06 -
The High Volume Breeder Committee tried to convince show
breeders that puppy mills had evolved into wonderful
high-tech breeding facilities with animal husbandry methods we
should adopt in our own “breeding programs.”
When breeders
rejected that concept, the American Kennel Club's totally
reversed itself, telling us “puppy mills, (High
Volume Breeders) need to be educated, taught a better way.” So
puppy mills and Petland was not only crammed down our throats,
those eager to swallow anything AKC handed out accepted the
taste.
When AKC revamped its
website to accommodate puppy mill advertising, we did not shove
the plate away because we were told AKC couldn’t “not” accept ads from “them” any more
than AKC could deny them registration. AKC is a "private club"
but many among us fell for that too. Blinded by anything that might adversely affect our ring
careers, we gulped down course after course of tainted fodder a
hog would have walked away from. If that offends you, click out
now.
It is the ultimate double-cross. AKC has entered into a "new
contractual relationship" with the Petland chain of stores (120
in the US, with 20 more planned for 2007). Most notably, the
difference between Petland and PetSmart or PetCo is that Petland
sells puppies! Puppies that will be represented
and sold under the auspices of AKC. Thousands of puppy
mill puppies AKC registered
at time of sale.
What a clever strategy, giving Petland a leg up
on the other pet shop chains which quit selling puppies
because AKC said it projected a bad image! How’s that
for long-term planning to set up AKC to command an industry?
That cuts UKC and other competing registries off at the point of
sale while guaranteeing Petland something they could never get
from UKC anyway.
The Petland deal was done quietly, buried in the
Treasurer’s report. When it was spotted by Delegates who
raised questions, they were essentially told it was none of
their business. The contract was signed, sealed, delivered. No
input was sought, nor would any have been accepted from the
Delegate body.
What makes AKC think it can trample the very traditions it has espoused for two hundred years?
What makes the Board, with but one exception, expect such actions
will be accepted by the Delegate body and the fancy?
Obviously AKC expects us to either leave or roll over. The
fact is, AKC doesn't need us bothersome show breeders and in any
case, we
will acquiesce with little more than a whimper or whine. If 10, 20, or even 50% of the
show breeder fancy walks away, our absence won't be noticed. There will be that
many more newbies to fill the ranks. Forcing the point
home, AKC will
increasingly treat us like a
“puppy mill” if we register more than two or three litters per
year. We’re already “inspected” by AKC (how many puppy
mills does it actually inspect?) and don't forget, we would have
been licensed under the PAWS act AKC tried
so hard to get passed.
The comparatively few dollars generated
by show breeders are insignificant compared to puppy mill income
so eagerly wooed back by AKC. The screws are being tightened by
AKC strategy and financial planning. What fools we
have been! AKC brags about
its new bottom line and we cheer dutifully….
There are staggering implications for show breeders in light of Pet Insurance, Animal
Rights Agendas (supported by AKC), Legislation that forecloses
on the individual breeder (leaving only the commercial breeder
exempt under USDA). The Animal Rights is picking up steam
and TheDogPress has repeatedly asked AKC, or any club to provide
documentation that AKC has done anything more than cheer clubs
on who fought AR law. No one has replied.
AKC and The Petland Pet Shop Contract from 2006 to Present.
No club or
group can show us any tangible financial support in fighting
the animal rights strangle hold on breeders. Add to that, zoning
regulations, pushed by local law makers and never challenged by
the Big Dog on behalf of the little dogs - the citizens. Hmmmm. The new
AKC Vet deal which I predict will so adversely impact the small
show breeder as to put him “out of business.” The list is long.
Look at the cleverness of it all! Show Breeders can take it or
leave it. AKC has thrown down the gauntlet. What will we
do? While we may have a lifetime invested in the sport,
most of us have other income, other professions. We will just
keep our core dogs and “get out” of the
sport. AKC breathes a sigh of relief. Troublemakers gone. Now
compare that to HVB, Commercial Breeders, i.e. puppy mills.
As show breeders leave, we hand the market to puppy millers on a silver platter
engraved by AKC, even without the passage of PAWS and NAIS. The
commercial breeders "CBs" will be good little supporters because their livelihood depends
on being able to market millions of “AKC Registered” pups
through pet shops. Only the most quick
witted will have grasped the basic fact. Private show
breeders are doomed. Puppy Mills are already regulated. PAWS
would not have affected them at all. The National Animal
Identification System (NAIS) is no threat to them either.
Illegal search and seizure? No big deal to millers, it has never
happened to them!
Have you tried shipping a large breed lately? Isn’t hindsight
wonderful? Think back even before 9/11/2001. Who benefited from the “federal
regulations” that mandate a 70 pound German Shepherd must be
shipped in a 4’ by 4’ box in order to meet those regulations? It is
suddenly being enforced by the few airlines that still accept
live cargo. Why? Hunte Brothers has an immense fleet of trucks to
move produce to the marketplace where pups are sold to local
buyers. "High volumne breeders don't ship bitches to be
bred. Now the puppy mills no longer have to ship puppies.
Was the
timing of Hunte forming an alliance with JB Hunt trucking and the
inception of insane federal
regulations against live cargo coincidental?
Well, do your own thinking. And having done so, if you feel
inclined to walk away from it all, run, don't walk. If
however you feel cheated, betrayed, “sold out” to your worst
enemy, and you believe there has to be a solution, stay tuned.
Americans fought a successful revolution in
order to be free of suppression. We have the right to keep and
bear arms because our founding fathers recognized the
possibility of threat to individual freedom and a healthy
nation. Not by an enemy. No indeed, it was to protect ourselves
from a government out of control! This is oppression of a
greater scale than imagined by our forefathers.
We are more than
the sum of our numbers because without us, families can no longer buy a quality
pet, dog or cat.
We
are far greater statistically than the pioneers who forged the
Constitution. Can we be
less brave? Are your constitutional and God-given
rights any less important than those of the early settlers?
Remember, they formed a union by telegraph and mounted messengers
- we have the internet!!!
We only
need heroes and the
courage of our convictions. There is already a surge of
outraged dog owners who are replacing cowardice and caution with
bravery and dedication. A grassroots group who believe
saving AKC is worth the effort. They are making a commitment to preserve AKC for the people and the purpose for which it was founded.
It's not about going
back to “the good old days.” That's never possible.
This
is about respect for the true purpose of
breeding and exhibiting dogs - a love for dogs and what they
mean to mankind.
..... Don't you wish
we had Davy Crockett and Kit Carson to step over the line in the
sand and make this last stand for us and for what we believe in?
Barbara J.
Andrews
Managing Editor
http://www.thedogpress.com/Columns/Editorials/0609-Sold.Out.By.AKC.asp
Handy links:______________________
For more, read the March 2006
AKC Letter To Puppy Mills and note AKC
advertising in the puppy mill trade magazines. Also a
double feature page
AKC & Judge Kodner Support
Puppy Mills and if you think we are being harsh, just
go to the
Petland Cotract Index
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