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AKC REGISTRATION FRAUD

AKC, having accepted forged litter registrations, refuses comment on its newest money-maker that welcomes unregistered dogs.

August 20, 2008

Don't complain about falsely registered AKC litters unless you have a bullet proof vest. When we broke the story on AKC registers unregistered dogs ^{{Ref #1}} under the guise of a new "Pedigree Research Service," we asked AKC to clarify the intent and operation of what many refer to as the “Register Anything” scheme. The only response received was “no comment.”

So 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 Registration Papers" on that dog?

No wonder AKC clams up! In the criminal justice scene, unwillingness to answer a reasonable question sends a clear signal of guilt. So I guess I've got it right. The American Kennel Club refused opportunity to explain why income is more important than AKC registration credibility and ii Registration Rules. Knowingly allowing a corrupted Stud Book to stand is abhorrent to every dedicated breeder.

Fact is, what can AKC say that would make palatable the knowledge that it has or will register dogs which

the breeder felt should not be registered (withheld papers) or
were not bred by the listed breeder or
are not the offspring of the listed sire and dam?

Given the registration mistakes and clerical errors AKC has made over the years, this may qualify as the mother of all cover-ups! What does the American Kennel Club 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 fifty years and I have the utmost respect for most top level staff individuals. Trust me, it is harder for them than for those of us who have the freedom to speak out. In addition to folders stuffed with documented pedigree fraud, in just my own personal experience there's this:

LITTER REGISTRATION FORGERY:

A friend notified me of a litter out of a very young bitch I co-owned. I called AKC but they refused to cancel the co-bred litter, some of which had already been individually registered. The senior Registration Department staffer pulled copies of the blue slips (individual puppy registration application forms) which clearly showed that my co-owner had made clumsy attempts to forge my signature. In fact, the co-owner, with whom I had a legally binding written contract, hadn't even tried to make the multiple signatures resemble each other.

The AKC staffer apologized for the registration department's "oversight." Apparently someone higher up decided she and I were both wrong. The litter stayed registered.

NO-SIGNATURE LITTER REGISTRATION:

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 litter owner had obviously decided a litter by Ch. Sachmo (the All-Time top Working Dog sire) would fetch a lot of money. The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) cancelled all registrations and sent a letter of apology to me. The American Kennel Club refused to cancel the litter registrations. Who knows how many breeders paid top dollar for Ch. Sachmo progeny that never existed? In the laws of any country, this makes the American Kennel Club complicit in criminal fraud.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION FRAUD:

AKC registered a litter out of a puppy bitch too young to have conceived a litter. A very powerful person in Mexico had returned her to me when she was well under a year old but not before he registered a litter out of his O'BJ Akita. AKC judge Thelma Von Thaden was then president of the Mexican KC (Federación Canófila Mexicana). The FCM Board Of Directors met and cancelled the litter registration even with the hallway "filled with lawyers" representing the socially elite breeder and his wealthy buyers.

By contrast, the American Kennel Club Registration Department told me they "AKC has no reciprocity with Mexico" and there was nothing they could do. Well, that wasn’t entirely true because shortly thereafter, AKC inspected me! AKC's attempt to intimidate me led me to let "The Cat Out Of The Bag" in my Canine Chronicle column titled AKC Enterprises.

Such is life. My records are in order and my bullet-proof vest is handy because the third time is the charm. These are but a few of my personal experiences. Many readers of TheDogPress.com have sent scrupulously documented experiences of Pedigree Studbook Fraud ^{{Ref #2}}, some 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 then AKC Secretary Mark Mooty on getting the Miniature Bull Terrier accepted into the AKC Stud Book, 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 Foundation Stock Service (FSS) by many years. It turned out to be a good money-maker and there's nothing wrong with that.

NEW BREED FSS REGISTRATION:

Turn the calendar forward… The Foundation Stock Service has become a joke. 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 puppy mill dogs registered in some obscure registry they (the commercial puppy producers) concocted as purebred?

One reader asked, "will they require DNA to verify parentage?" I doubt that, especially since AKC reluctantly (?) began doing DNA certification only after UKC initiated the service. A prominent AKC Group 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 laboratory 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 ^{{Ref #3}} This new registration service in no way changes what AKC has been doing all along. Pedigree Research Service simply makes registering *anything* bred by *anyone* registered with any *competing* registry, potentially 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.

Concerned breeders asked how anyone at AKC can determine a dog has an unbroken line of AKC registerable dogs? Especially when it allows changing the dog's name ^{{Ref #4}}? When AKC breeders withhold papers, they don’t usually provide a pedigree. AKC refused comment.

AKC REGISTRATION NAME-GAME

Unscrupulous people can just take a dog's name and AKC number from a show catalog and falsely register litters. That happened in the #1 All Time Bulldog case we reported. The perpetrator went to federal prison, no thanks to AKC.

Things change and we 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 Pedigree Research Service^{{Ref #5}}. When we broke that story, readers filled our mailbag!

Dig for gold in these Reference & Related Articles

{1} AKC Registers Unregistered Dogs new Admin. Pedigree Service