[ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Hunte, AKC and Carmen

  • From: Karen C. <kmc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:49:58 -0400

In my opinion, Cindy makes a decent point, as has everyone
else in this conversation.

On the one hand, AKC wants more and more litters bred and
registered with them (as opposed to other registries)
because that's their main source of revenue. We were told
once that "reputable" breeders could not possibly supply
the demand for purebred puppies and that is why Mr. Hunte
and other HVBs are necessary evils. (Some of us were even
told that we should consider selling breeding stock or
stud services to the HVBs so that they could "upgrade"
their end product.) On the other hand, the AROs,
pounds/shelters and people working in the trenches of pure
breed rescue tell us that we have too darned many domestic
dogs and cats as it is right now and that we need to have
some mandatory controls on breeding to cut down on the
amount of unwanted animals -- many of which have been
sadly abused or neglected -- that they are forced to deal
with.

We are told that the majority of the problem of excess and
unwanted dogs comes not from puppy mills OR reputable
breeders, but from "one-time breeders" who allow their
intact animals to breed for questionable reasons. The AROs
and shelters tell us that mandatory spaying and neutering
of all pets is the only viable solution to this problem
because the general public cannot be trusted to be
responsible on their own, without a law in place to
threaten them into compliance. OTOH, people like our own
RALEEF group tell us that we must fight against the AROs
and all anti-breeding legislation because animals are our
personal property and we must be allowed the right to make
decisions about our personal property without government
interference.

What is the solution? I've always thought that it all
comes down to personal responsibility, which really can't
be legislated or controlled. All we can do is educate...
educate... educate the masses and hope for the best. If
*WE* don't set some personal controls on ourselves, our
lawmakers will continue to be happy to do it for us,
especially when lobbied by the likes of big ARO groups
such as PeTA and HSUS.

Unfortunately, AKC is not helping us in our fight at all!
IMHO, AKC should not be concerned with making more
money through the breeding and registering of more and
more puppies. Instead, AKC should help us (responsible
breeders, exhibitors and pet owners) demonstrate to the
AROs that we are actively trying to solve this problem and
make a difference. AKC can do this by instituting two new
rules: (1) AKC should require that EVERY puppy born and
sold through a pet shop be *MUST* be registered using
Limited Registration only. (2) AKC could further help the
cause of educating of the public by REQUIRING that all
breeding animals MUST have some sort of AKC title.
Otherwise, the litter would not be AKC registrable! This
would at least attempt to demonstrate that the person
breeding the litter has *some* knowledge about dogs in
that they had to put in the time and money necessary to
have put a title on their breeding stock.

If WE (the fancy) don't start policing ourselves in a
meaningful way, we're going to lose our dogs and our
sport. We have to lead the way in this fight. We are the
ones who supposedly know dogs best and are concerned for
the health and welfare of purebred dogs. We need to be
doing everything in our power to educate the public,
beginning with very young children. This is the only way
we can hope to truly effect change in our society's
attitude about the value of all living beings. And yet,
AKC -- the number one major registry for purebred dogs in
the United States -- continues to give the appearance of
doing all that it can to encourage the production of more
and more dogs without any limitations at all. I feel this
sends exactly the wrong message to the general public
(i.e., "consumers"). It certainly sends a strong and clear
message to the AROs! It tells them WE are the problem.

Pogo said it best: "We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us!"

---
Karen C.
=46lame suit on...

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