Subject: HVBC, Mrs. Kodner and rationality PERMISSION TO CROSS POST GRANTED
Some have read my earlier post to indicate a distancing from Mrs. Kodner's views expressed in her Dog News article entitled "Detente begins with the middleman". Nothing can be further from the truth. It has taken over 30 years for the dog fancy and the AKC to begin a conversation about AKC's involvement with the commercial pet breeding and distribution industry. Mrs. Kodner has brought the issues and the debate to the forefront of the fancy, and for that she deserves significant praise. Indeed, Mrs. Kodner did accompany myself, Chairman Patti Strand and other members of the AKC High Volume Breeders Committee on a tour of the Hunte Corporation facilities in Goodman Missouri. She reported accurately what I observed as well: a clean modern facility purpose built for the brokering of puppies. Whether we, the fancy, like it or not, Mr. Hunte is in the big business of supplying registered purebred dogs to America's pet stores in a big way. The reality is that the AKC is not now deciding whether to go into the commercial business or not. The AKC has been in the commercial business for the past 50 years. The registration money that comes from that business supports the AKC and each of us fanciers every time we enter an AKC event. The fancy and the AKC have created a tremendous demand for pure bred dogs in this country. We will NEVER fill that demand, and thus the commercial marketplace has developed to supply an ever increasing excess demand. To imagine that the demand will go away simply because we want it to is naive. Rather, whether the AKC continues to be involved in that commercial industry or not, Hunte will continue to buy and ship hundreds of puppies each week. Commercial kennels housing hundreds of dogs will still exist. Pet stores delivering thousands of dogs annually to the American marketplace will still be there. Rescue groups will still have to deal with the "rejects" of that and every other breeding establishment's sale. I have certainly been one of the loudest critics of AKC's involvement with commercial breeders, brokers and retailers. But I am not naive enough to think that the withdrawal of AKC from the commercial sector will cause the downfall of the commercial sector. It would not. The breeders, the middlemen and the retailers will simply use a different "registry". Some of you have suggested that such use of a different registry would diminish the supply and value of the dogs in the pet stores. History and experience says that is not true. Public demand will continue to drive sales, regardless of registry. Compaq computers started as a "knockoff" of IBM machines. Demand made it a legitimate "brand". It is only if the AKC remains as the primary registry of the commercial sector that AKC can have any influence at all in that sector. Many of you have expressed disdain for the suggestion that an AKC inspection of care and conditions makes any difference at all. I disagree. While our inspections program has certainly not "succeeded" in cleaning up the kennels, it has begun. And it is an indication of the AKC's intent to continue to increase the standards of care provided by AKC customers. Obviously we have a long way to go. After all it was only in the past year or two that Care and Conditions have been part of our lexicon. It is only if the AKC stays in the game that we can raise the bar and demand more of the breeders, distributors and retailers who choose to continue to use our registry. To do so I believe we should greatly expand AKC's inspection budget and activities. I also believe that the only way we will have a stud book of true integrity is to require a DNA sample be on file for every sire and dam entered into the stud book. The use of a storage medium for such DNA samples - such as the FTA paper being investigated by the HVBC - offers the potential for a complete DNA sampling database at a reasonable cost. If AKC registration means to the general public that a puppy has been raised, transported and delivered in kennels, broker's facilities and retail pet store that meet AKC stringent Care and Conditions standards, and that an AKC registration is a meaningful certification of the true parentage of a puppy, then we will be able to proudly claim that there is true value in insisting on an AKC registered dog. More importantly, we will have raised the standards of the commercial industry for the betterment of the dogs. Recognizing that rescue of dogs is a tremendously important part of the equation, and that dogs needing rescue come from every segment of the breeding communities, AKC should devote significant dollars to a rescue foundation to be used to provide grant assistance to the many rescue groups that do the yeoman's work of cleaning up everyone else's mess. Those of us who dedicate themselves to the breeding of dogs to the AKC standard and who far exceed the "minimum" standards to be applied to anyone using AKC as their registry should have a way of being identified. AKC recognition of such reputable breeders should be forthcoming in the form of separate identification and registration papers. Those of us who belong to our national clubs, subscribe to their codes of ethics and breed and raise their pups in accordance with the fancy's standards should be differentiated from those who do not. Whether we want to believe it or not there are many AKC fanciers who would fit ANY definition of a "puppy mill" that can be ascribed. Thus, the name of the High Volume Breeder Committee is not intended to address only "puppy mills" or commercial breeders. It is intended to address all who use the AKC as their registry and who breed 7 or more litters a year. Plenty of fanciers meet that definition. Pet stores, "out the door" brokers (as very aptly described by Carl Trehus in a post on Delegates-L), brokers and breeders of pure bred dogs are here to stay. AKC should raise the bar for those in that industry who are willing to subscribe to our Care and Conditions and Registration policies, but when they do rise to our expectations we must be proud of ALL dogs that bear our registrations as proof that they have been bred in accordance with our strict requirements. So for those of you who have threatened to boycott Mrs. Kodner for expressing her opinions, I suggest you add my name to your boycott list as well. I believe the dogs are better off if AKC is involved than if we abandon them. I believe AKC can and should create a registry of true integrity using FTA paper archived DNA samples for all breeding stock. I believe AKC should offer its registry services to all who meet our stringent demands, regardless of the labels the fancy chooses to put on them. You are welcome to express your opinions at mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]. Patti Strand's interview concerning the High Volume Breeders Committee, its charge and operations so far can be retrieved by emailing to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] As always, I speak only for myself, not for the AKC Board, the AKC or the High Volume Breeders Committee. Steven D. Gladstone, Esq. AKC Board of Directors, Class of 2005 PERMISSION TO CROSS POST GRANTED ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
