When the WWW took off in 1998 TheDogPlace, our affiliate, became the world's largest, and most comprehensive dog site.  It also set an internet standard for writer credentials & I.D.

Today it is even more important to know who you are reading so please, Meet The

(Dog) Press

 09|16|09 - TheDogPress Editorial, Barbara J. Andrews - I tip my hat to HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle.  He has moved the HSUS into the #1 spot as the nation’s most powerful organization soliciting money under the pretense of loving and helping animals. 

 Yes, that's fraud, but apparently, not criminal fraud under U.S. law and IRS tax code.  Leaving PETA out of this because their public perception is no longer credible, let’s compare the hated HSUS to what we love, the AKC.   When Pacelle became CEO, HSUS reported $100 million income on IRS form 990 as compared to AKC’s $60 million for the same year.  Since 2006, HSUS not-for-profit income has shot skyward, thanks to Hurricane Katrina and Pacelle’s fund raising skills.  See AKC Executive Salaries Revealed for more info on comparative expenses

 HSUS’s Wayne Pacelle is the most recognizable Animal Advocate on TV.  He is the media’s talking head for animal (rights) welfare.  Notably, “consultant” or “contributor” TV appearances are handsomely paid.  Perhaps Pacelle donates his expertise.  We’re not sure.

 By comparison, AKC’s CEO Ron Menaker is rarely seen or consulted.  Indeed, UKC's Wayne Cavanaugh is the purebred dog advocate most often seen on TV.  The point here is that AKC has steadily lost registration income during the same period in which HSUS has grown like a cancer cell.  How did that happen?  Easy Answer - AKC lost puppy mill income and due to disillusionment, a significant percentage of long-time show breeders .

Pacelle is a brilliant manager and strategist.  I would see his AKC counterpart as a dismal failure except for the fact that Menaker is a financial genius.  The difference?  Despite being an AKC judge, Menaker is either unaware of or ignores the basic concept on which his organization was founded.  Pacelle does not.  Still, Menaker has made a lot of money for AKC in other ways.

 Wayne Pacelle and Ron Menaker are rumored to be, if not personal friends, at least respectful of each other.  That aside, AKC seems to have borrowed the HSUS playbook and under Menaker's extraordinary leadership as CEO, AKC has developed many of the exact same marketing strategies as are employed by HSUS. 

 Credit cards, kennel runs, gadgets, toys, etc. and selling the name and endorsement of the organization generates untold millions for both AKC and HSUS.  And not to be outdone in the donation department, AKC created satellite non-profits to suck bucks from dog lovers.  The AKC/CHF is perhaps the best known due to honorable intent and unfortunately, recent scandal. There’s the AKC Museum and, borrowing from the HSUS playbook, the Disaster Fund. 

Then, seizing the opportunity to capitalize (no pun intended) on the presidential election, AKC created a PAC (Political Action Committee). Menaker wants to represent all dogs and all dog owners.  So does HSUS, except Pacelle makes it abundantly clear that, like PETA, the last thing HSUS supports is purebred dog breeders. Ahh, now we're getting to the core differences between AKC and HSUS.

HSUS net income is significantly higher due to a much lower executive pay scale than AKC.  According to a May 2008 report, AKC pays its CEO and Executives over twice as much as does HSUS.  I leave you to ponder the implications of that fact.

Serious financial issues threaten AKC even as HSUS becomes richer and infinitely more powerful.  Looking at the difference in how the two not-for-profit organizations spend income, we see that HSUS spends most of its income marketing, developing, and soliciting for yet more income from animal lovers.  The AKC does not!  HSUS is everywhere, it is the media's #1 source for facts, statistics, animal care, and animal related legislation.  Where are the AKC's PSAs, animal care advice, advertisements, and promotions for the AKC's purebred dog?  Nowhere except on AKC's website.

That question is so important, I am compelled to rephrase it and ask again.  HSUS is perceived as being for animals, loving and protecting them, etc.  We know better but it is public perception that puts money in the till!  AKC touts itself as being "for dogs" but when it has incredible opportunity to nationally promote the purebred dog on Westminster and other high-rated televised broadcasts, it forsakes its core constituency for dog food sponsorship $$$ promoting a humane society?  

Where are the ads encouraging purebred dog ownership and the wholesome competition known as "dog shows" which was in fact, the sole reason for AKC's formation? 

In this publication, we examine the good and the bad about AKC.  If we learn a little heavily on AKC's shortcomings, well, where else are you going to get those facts?  AKC has an excellent public relations staff whose job it is to dress everything up in tinsel, golden light, and a bit too much B.S.  Our job is to balance that with thought-provoking commentary.

 So how can AKC regain the confidence and support of show and hobby breeders?  More to the point, does AKC want that market?  Many feel we are just a thorn in AKC's side, an impediment to making the big bucks from a much wider market.  There has been much looking-back on the AKC Board Of Directors regarding the loss of puppy mill income, or as it was so well sanitized and cleverly termed, High Volume Breeders.

Most long-time breeders, Judges, and clubs are stubbornly devoted to the AKC and what it traditionally represents.  We have decades of involvement and love for the sport.  Show and Field enthusiasts built the American Kennel Club.  They are the sole reason it was formed.  Historically, the AKC has never had to advertise to the public; it was the only game in town and had no AR groups with which to contend.  But times have changed.

HSUS has vastly more support and public acceptance than does the AKC.  HSUS now generates nearly double the income of AKC despite the required (non-voluntary) monetary support of breeders via registrations.

So what can show and hobby breeders do to support AKC?  Offer a fair trade.  They can keep breeding, quit running off to other show / registry venues and in exchange for that financial support, breeders should demand that AKC support and advertise the purebred dog, the advantages of ownership, and the competitive sport on which the AKC was once based.

The bottom line is this.  With groups like HSUS and PETA better known and better funded than is the American Kennel Club, we need to decide whether to cash in our chips or invest more to protect our stock (pun intended this time).  The purebred dog fancy has no SEC or Federal government to bail us out and very existence is at risk!

Barbara (BJ) Andrews, Editor