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REPLY TO AKC MARKETING re FEES

 

Dear Mr. Crowley,

You supposedly did “market research” before you asked the Board to take the action it did on registrations. I’m one of your better and more reliable customers. No one asked me or anyone I know what this increase in fees might mean to us.

I received this yesterday:

 

STATEMENT FROM THE AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB


AKC Registration, Transfer, and Co-Ownership Restructured Fees


The AKC Board of Directors voted unanimously at its October 2011 meeting to restructure the individual dog registration and co-ownership fees.  This new fee structure will allow AKC to continue its good works for all dogs, including canine health research donations, search-and-rescue dog grants, lost dog recovery, kennel inspections, monitoring canine legislation, and promoting responsible dog ownership among other programs. AKC can also continue to provide the same level of quality vital services to clubs, exhibitors and breeders. This is the first registration fee increase since 2007 despite the continuing economic challenges facing the country and as a result the sport of purebred dogs.

As of January 1, 2012, the first-time individual dog registration fee and each basic transfer of ownership fee will increase to $30 per dog.  This new fee structure also includes modifications to co-ownership.  With the first-time individual dog registration as well as any subsequent transfer of dog ownership, one (1) primary owner will be listed with the $30 registration or transfer fee. In addition, a $10 fee will be added for each additional owner listed on the registration certificate.* The primary owner will receive the official AKC Registration Certificate and each additional owner will receive an e-mail only copy of the registration certificate. The e-mail copy will be clearly marked COPY, will not display the certificate issue date, and will not have the transfer form on the back.

Owners of AKC Registered Dogs will still receive the same benefits as before including:

· AKC Registration Certificate
· Complimentary Trial Pet Health Care Insurance
· Eligibility to Participate in AKC Events
· New Puppy Handbook and Optional discounted Registration Packages

As the nation’s only not-for-profit registry, we look forward to the continued support of dog owners through registration with the American Kennel Club. Together we will overcome the current challenges of the economy and continue our good works on behalf of all dogs. *Co-owners of dams registering litter members to the litter owners will be exempt from this additional fee.

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Here is the affect this will have on me if this is indeed the policy of the AKC:

  1. I will no longer register my dogs in my name and in my wife’s name. It is not that she isn’t worth $10. It is that her being shown as a co-owner isn’t worth $10.

  2. I register all my puppies with the AKC immediately after birth. I do this because most of my buyers have no intention of registering their puppies as they perceive absolutely no benefit from doing so. As my puppies are already registered and named, I pass the three generation pedigree, AKC Found paper work and AKC registration papers to the new owners. I do this to introduce the merit of registering the dogs (I lead by example) and to make it easier for them to register the dogs in their own names. If they do not follow through, the dogs are at least registered and because I micro chipped them and registered them with the AKC Lost Dog program I am still listed as the primary person to contact if the dog is lost. I will simply no longer register my puppies. I’ll register the litter and if the new owners want to register with the AKC or the UKC or whatever, it will be entirely up to them.

  3. As I am becoming less and less concerned about having AKC registered dogs and because AKC shows continue to go up in price and down in attendance, I am going to get off my duff and start investigating the UKC sponsored conformation shows and those that lead to the so called “International” title. If I find venues that are as much fun or more than AKC conformation events, I’ll switch to those events instead. I don’t mind being patient, but in the end, life’s too short to put up with the foibles of others for too long.

I think you folks have a fundamental misunderstanding of the economy and the community you purport to serve. Instead of aggressively reducing your administrative costs – including salaries and benefits and moving to less expensive quarters – you just keep increasing our costs to be involved with the AKC. The AKC is making the UKC remarkably more attractive all the time.

The plain fact is that MOST dog owners don’t know much about the AKC or even that it exists, let alone care about anything you folks do. Soon, those of us who are seriously involved in dogs will join them in ignoring the AKC. I don’t think “too big to fail” applies to the AKC. If in doubt, ask your compatriots to the North, the CKC.

Very truly yours,


Bill Burns
The Kennel At Burns Gardens
Port Ludlow, Washington
http://www.BurnsGardens.com
Golden Retrievers and Havanese

 

https://www.thedogpress.com/ClubNews/AKC-Marketing_Burns-1112.asp 1112.1

 

 

 

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