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Does AKC think by keeping quiet, the newest registration
scandal will just go away? Hardly! Registering
unregistered dogs created a “topical storm” of
outrage!
Barbara J. Andrews
| 08|20|08
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When we broke the story on
(1)
AKC registers unregistered
dogs under the guise of the "Pedigree Research Service" , we asked AKC to clarify the intent and operation of the “Register
Anything” scheme and the only response we received was “no
comment.”
So let me see if I have this right; anyone
who can provide any kind of pedigree that shows any AKC registered dogs
anywhere back there can get "AKC Papers"
on that dog?
No wonder AKC clams up! That's not smart. In the criminal justice scene,
unwillingness to answer a reasonable question sends a clear
signal of guilt
or of having previously made statement
for which there is no reasonable explanation. So I guess
I've got it right.
AKC refused opportunity to explain why it
did what it did to destroy AKC registration credibility and
ii Registration Rules. That AKC refuses
to do so is insulting to the entire fancy.
On the other hand, what can AKC say that would make palatable
the knowledge that it has or will register dogs which
a.) the
breeder felt should not be registered or b.) were not bred by
the listed breeder or c.) are not the offspring of the listed
sire and dam?
Given the
registration mistakes and “clerical errors” AKC has made over
the years, is this the mother of all cover-ups? What does
AKC tell owners about their AKC registered Toy Poodle that looks
like a Labradoodle? I deliver this
message reluctantly because the AKC system has been very good to
me for over forty years. Even so, in addition to folders
full of documented pedigree fraud, in just my own personal
experience:
1.)
AKC refused to cancel a co-bred litter based on screamingly obvious
forgeries. The senior Registration Department staffer pulled copies
of the blue slips (individual puppy registration application
forms) and discovered my co-owner had
made no attempt to disguise the forgery or even to make the
series of signatures resemble each
other. She apologized for the registration department's
"oversight." Apparently someone higher up
decided she and I were both wrong. The litter stayed registered.
2.)
Then there was the
Canadian-whelped litter for which there was no stud owner
signature at all - because the bitch was never bred to my stud
dog! The CKC cancelled registration on the litter and sent
a letter of apology to me. AKC refused to cancel the
litter. Who knows how many breeders paid top dollar for Sachmo progeny that never existed?
3.)
AKC registered a litter out of a puppy
bitch too young to even have conceived a litter!
A very powerful person in Mexico returned her to me when she was
well under a year old but I later learned he had registered a
litter out of her. AKC judge Thelma Von Thaden was
president of the Mexican KC (Federación Canófila Mexicana).
FCM cancelled all the registrations in spite of serious legal action which the FCM Board of
Directors knew would be initiated by the breeder and owners of
the falsely created “O’BJ” dogs. By contrast, AKC told me
they had "no reciprocity with Mexico" and there was nothing
they
could do, which wasn’t entirely true because shortly thereafter,
AKC inspected me!
Such is life.
My records are in order and my bullet-proof vest hangs at the
front door. These are but three of my personal
experiences. Many readers have sent carefully documented
experiences of Pedigree Fraud,
a few of which have been published. We don’t want to make mountains out of molehills, we just want the mole to stop
messing up our yard.
One reader went
into detail about the problems her club has had trying to get
their breed recognized. Having worked with Mark Mooty on
getting the Miniature Bull Terrier accepted, I can vouch for
that. AKC wouldn’t even accept Akitas registered with the
Japanese Kennel Club and the world's most respected registry,
the Kennel Club Of England! Marianne Goldstein
finally relented and “enrolled” my two English imports “for
breeding only.” I'm pretty sure that was a brand new
category as it predated the current FSS by many years.
But turn the
calendar forward… now AKC welcomes breeds no one has ever heard
of from countries we can’t find on a world map!
Simultaneously, we are expected to believe someone at AKC can
somehow verify those imports, bred by people AKC knows nothing
about or out of puppy mill dogs registered
with a competing registry?
As one reader
asked, "will they require DNA to verify parentage?"
Personally I doubt that, especially since AKC very reluctantly began doing
DNA certification after UKC began offering the service.
A prominent judge told me AKC "threw him out"
when he flew to NY and presented the board with a complete
Canine DNA program "all wrapped up in a red ribbon."
It was an incredible gift his lab had worked on for months. Oh
well, another story for another time.
Despite what
we’ve been led to believe, AKC doesn’t “have” to register puppy
mill produce for legal reasons. Indeed, AKC has actively
solicited commercial breeders as in this
AKC Letter To Puppy Mills
(3) This new rule in no way
changes what AKC has been doing, it simply makes registering
*anything* bred by *anyone* registered with any *competing*
registry, conceivably AKC registerable. That changes things
because in the past, disputed litters and dogs at least had AKC
papers. Now they don't need those pesky pieces of paper in
order to become AKC registered.
Many asked how
anyone at AKC can determine a dog has an unbroken line of AKC
registered dogs? Especially when it allows
(4) changing the dog's name?
When AKC breeders withhold papers, they
don’t usually provide a pedigree. AKC refused comment.
As has been
pointed out by readers, unscrupulous people can just take a
dog's name and AKC number from a show catalog and falsely
register litters. That has happened. Now they need only
pay a pedigree service for a fictitiously created litter
pedigree and what? send that to AKC as proof of unbroken line of
AKC registered dogs?
This is one
time I’d like to be wrong but I’ll just leave it to breeders to
decide. As
I said, things change and we can hope that AKC will too.
DNA technology now makes it possible to verify disputed litters
and shucks, it would bring in a little extra money in fees. But not as much
as the new (5) Pedigree Research Service.
When we broke that story, readers filled our
mailbag!
Barbara J.
Andrews, Editor-In-Chief
(2)
Pedigree Fraud
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