FREEDOM AND REPRESENTATION! 

With the 4th of July holiday coming to a close, I have a few things to say regarding breeders’ rights and freedoms which are being taken away from us here in the good old US of A.  As most of you know, I was a Navy brat.  I grew up with God and country, in an age where we still said the Pledge of Allegiance every day in school.  No one was ever forced to participate but we did have to prove we knew the pledge.  In assembly we sang the Star Spangled Banner.

Vickie Haywood  TheDogPress July 2008 - I am really not sure how I feel about our current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan.  I am told by those in the know that Iraq is just about finished and we must establish a base of operation to keep and eye on Iran.  Afghanistan is another matter altogether.  I became single again last winter and began dating a Marine who means a lot to me.  He was instrumental in getting me out of a really horrible place, the abyss of suicide.  He held out a hand and has walked me along the road to recovery.  My Marine friend is deploying to Afghanistan soon.  It is killing me.  I do not want it but I have no choice.  He has no choice.  It is his job!  These guys put their lives on the line every day so that WE Americans can be free to do what we do and enjoy our rights.

But.. and you knew there was going to be a but, right???  The political climate has changed in America.  The Animal Rights (AR) groups are heavy into our political system.  Last year some of us worked to get Rick Santorum out of office and we succeeded.  Now the national election is but a breath away and our politicians have been raking in big bucks from the AR groups.  They are taking away our freedom to own, breed, show, and sell dogs.  Every day a new city is banning breeds, another company is canceling someone's property insurance for owning a "dangerous breed" and another town is passing spay neuter laws that make it impossible or too expensive to own an intact dog or bitch.

And then there’s the American Kennel Club, a CLUB of CLUBS, so WE are the AKC.  They make the rules and approve the shows but let us not forget where they get their money.  From US!  We show the dogs, we pay the fees, we breed the dogs people pay to register.  And our clubs pay for the right to hold shows, agility trials, and all performance events.  The exhibitors pay and pay and pay... so there has to be something in this for us, the breeders.  There has to be representation.  But the AKC is not giving us anything, it is taking from us and I’m not sure even member clubs are really represented.  Delegates seem to vote the party line.

Either we get up off our butts and do something about our rights as U.S. citizens, OR WE GET OUT!!!

I have devoted more than 45 years of my life to the sport of pure bred dogs.  I have a lot of pretty ribbons, a lot of pretty pieces of paper with the titles on them, and I have had the joy of bringing new life into the world, and sharing it with others.  But ya know what?? I am done. I have a litter on the ground and I do believe it is my last one for show purposes with the AKC.

I am ready to go to another venue to have my fun.  I am ready to stop being a slave to the American Kennel Club.  I have worked my tail off at dog shows for years and years.  Two weeks ago I worked all day at our agility trial, for two days straight.  Three weeks before that, I spent 16 hours in the hot sun at my club’s Working Tests taking pictures.  I spent a wad of money doing all that for my club, a member of the Poodle Club of America which is an AKC member club. But, we do not get equal representation at AKC.

As far as I am concerned ALL CLUBS that pay a fee to put on any event should be represented. That is a starting point. After all, THIS IS AMERICA and we have a right to representation. It is the foundation of democracy. If AKC is “our” club then every club that holds AKC shows has a right to representation. I propose that we petition AKC to give all clubs that pay to hold any event the right to representation.

And one more thing. There should be REGIONAL AKC meetings. Let the AKC travel to us, not us travel to them. It is after all, our participation that keeps AKC the sport alive. Without us, there is no AKC, no tuxedo events on TV, no dogs shows or performance events. Without us, the only “purbred” dogs left are those from the “high volume breeders”. I trust nothing except my own testing and my own pedigrees. I question everything. So what happened to “Integrity and Ethics” and “Honesty and Values”?

LET FREEDOM RING!