pet connection

Here’s yet another chapter in the saga of my ongoing love/hate relationship with the American Kennel Club. Yesterday, some folks thought I was the spawn of Satan for saying nice things about them, but today? Not so much.

Five years ago, it looked to a lot of people in the purebred dog world as though the AKC board had decided if they couldn’t beat the puppy mills, they’d join them. From an excellent article in the new issue of the Canine Chronicle, written by Gretchen Bernardi:

In 2000, the AKC was in the midst of a crisis. The cash cow was drying up, due, in large part, to the boycott of the AKC registry by the commercial breeders in Missouri, spearheaded by Missouri Pet Breeders in March of that year. The back-breaking straw in this scenario was the newly implemented Fre-quently Used Sire program. What was the AKC thinking? First, it institutes a policy requiring minimum standards of care and now it wants to ensure the parentage of the dogs in its registry.

So this particular camel, wanting to be out from under the yoke of more inspections and more requirements, moved most of its registrations to a little-known registry in Arkansas – American Pet Registry, Inc. Actually, that organization and its breeders were visionaries. They had been told repeatedly that without AKC registration papers their dogs were worth very little and that the American public wanted, actually de-manded, those papers. Until then, only the United Kennel Club and the American Kennel Club controlled the puppy paper market and the AKC certainly held the lion’s share of that market.

But soon everyone realized that people who bought their puppies in the pet stores didn’t care who printed the paper that accompanied those dogs and APRI is now one of the four or five major registration entities in the country. From its website: “The nation’s only pet registration service dedicated to the preservation and promotion of pet ownership and the professional pet industry.” It has subsequently merged with Academic Kennel Records and American Breeders Association, among others.

Unable to distinguish itself as the premier registry that we know it is, the AKC found its registrations in serious decline. We have all been bombarded with this news, but suffice it to say that in six years – from 1999 through 2006 – AKC registrations dropped by 249,428 dogs and 113,066 litters. Those figures are even more significant for our discussion than a simple formula of number of dogs registered times registration fees, since most of the commercially-bred puppies are sold with at least one supplemental transfer fee. During the initial, dramatic drop in these registrations, an officer of the AKC stood before the delegate body and said that although we had lost a significant chunk of the commercial breeders, we really “don’t need the puppy mill dogs.” But someone clearly thought we did.

Bernardi goes on to list each recommendation of the committee, and points out that the AKC has implemented none of those aimed at “raising the bar” of what the AKC is and what AKC registration stands for, but only those designed to, as she says, “sanitize” commercial dog breeding:

AKC became a platinum member of the Missouri Pet Breeders, the very organization which launched the boycott. AKC removed the “do not buy puppies from a pet shop” from its website. Andrew Hunte, founder of the Hunte Corporation, was invited to sit in the VIP section at the Invitational and in the AKC box at Westminster. AKC entered into and then backed out of an undisclosed contractual arrangement with Petland. AKC offered quickly expiring discount registration coupons clearly aimed at the most frequent breeders.

In August, the board unanimously passed a resolution, with directors Patty Haines and Bill Newman abstaining, “to direct management to aggressively pursue the registration of every AKC registerable dog and to actively welcome any breeder or owner who is willing to abide by all AKC rules, regulations, and policies”.

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In the end, what am I to think of the good work carried on by this committee and the thoughtful recommendations it made to the AKC board? More importantly, what am I to think of the AKC board and staff that, five years later, have addressed those recommendations that abide by its current philosophy of pursuing commercially-bred registrations in the absence of “raising the bar” and has ignored those that eight of the nine committee members thought would do just that and thereby enhance the name AKC.

At the creation of the committee, its critics said that it was formed to sanitize the commercial breeding industry and that “high volume breeder” was simply a euphimism for puppy mills. I disagreed with that assessment when the committee began its deliberations five years ago, but to my everlasting shame, I think they were wiser than I.

It’s an excellent, thought provoking read, and it’s here.

The new washer-dryer arrived last night, and I have to say no one has ever had more fun doing laundry than I am having this morning.

I’m assuming the thrill will wane by the end of the weekend.

But yes … the washer does dog beds. Retriever-sized dog beds. The 20-year-old Kenmore it replaced (with a center agitator) couldn’t accommodate large, bulky items. This front-loader not only takes such items, but it cleans them faster and with less water and electricity.

Yowser.

In other news … I’m puppy-sitting. Sugar, a retriever a month younger than my Otter (Otter’s four months old), is here until tomorrow night. The two puppies are having a blast … and Clara the cat is high on her cat tree, looking down in disgust. (Here’s a little slideshow of the two puppies playing.)

Christie’s in Southern California doing her pop-culture journo-thing for another Web site. And me? I’ll be chasing puppies and doing laundry. Yes, I know: You’re jealous!

And speaking of appliances … Dyson is sending me their new hand-vac to test, and later, their ultralight. Roomba soon, I promise.

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Around and around …

… Thanks, Luisa, for reminding me of the meet-the-dogs stuff over on Bad Rap. The slide show on the former Vick dogs is amazing. Look at the sweet faces on those dogs. … The Terrierman has a nice bit of history on Stubby, the Georgetown University mascot. OK, but what’s a Hoya? … and Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly vents on pet-owners who expect the vet to work miracles for nothing. …Kim Campbell Thornton, who blogs here now and then, has a good piece on MSNBC.com on what a puppy-buyer should look for in a breeder. Beware of breeder, indeed.

Tip of the blog to Dog-Li-Ness for noticing the American Kennel Club dipping a toe into the possibility of offering a club for mixed-breed dogs:

The American Kennel Club, desperate to boost their revenues, is considering starting a new club for mutts (possibly named the All American Dog Club), so they can collect registration fees from even more dog owners. The club would give members access to a website that would include “fun features” like forums, contests, games and advice (the kind of stuff that’s already available all over the web) a free initial vet visit, and a free trial period of pet insurance (so they can then sell you some of that, too!). In addition, the AKC says members would be able to earn Canine Good Citizenship certificates (already available to all dogs, whether registered with the AKC or not) and compete in AKC Rally-O and Agility.

I trotted happily and honestly through the survey — I’d actually like to have all dog-owners join us in the fight against breed bans and mandatory spay-neuter legislation, and to have more money to fund health research. The AKC seems to have the bully pulpit to do that. But then I got to this little tidbit, about two-thirds through the survey:

One possible advantage of the proposed All American Dog Club would be to allow mixed breed members to compete in mixed breed classes offered by AKC clubs at AKC events. AKC is considering the following format for mixed breed competition at AKC events:

–Purebred and mixed breed dogs will compete for different titles (do not compete head-to-head).

–Mixed breed dogs will be able to earn AKC titles, but will not be eligible to compete at the highest level of AKC competition.

Excuse me? You’re going to take money for entries, but not let a mixed-breed agility dog go to the AKC Nationals? Phooey!

Back up the truck here. I see the possibility of the AKC becoming a strong and counter-balancing voice to animal-advocacy groups that don’t speak for the majority of pet-lovers (groups like, uh, PETA, who thinks extinction is the answer for all pets). But the AKC needs to truly embrace all dog-lovers and their rights, not just look at them as an untapped market of saps they can squeeze more dough out of to keep the present ship of state afloat. They mostly looked the other way for years when it came to puppy-mills, until the millers realized one bit of paper with some fancy scroll on it and an official-sounding name was about the same as another, and made up their own official-sounding groups, tossing the AKC off the gravy train.

And then, the “hybrid” fad, which meant the puppy-millers didn’t need to bother with paper at all. Just feed the hype and collect the credit card numbers.

So where are we now? The AKC needs to shore up its revenues to keep its dog-show delegation happy. But instead of creating an apartheid system that’s really little more than an ATM for the dog-show crowd, the AKC should really up its game.

In short: Behave like the not-for-profit you are, not the Wal-Mart you aim to be.

Get dog-owners of all kinds involved — really, really involved — in dog sports, legislative advocacy, local creation of dog-exercise areas, health research and much, much more. Swallow your pride and dump the business consultants. Be an advocacy group — PETA knows there’s big money in that! — and push for a better life for all dogs and all dog-owners.

That includes welcoming all dogs into all non-breed-specific sports. I got a German shedder-brainy collie mix here who’d just love to take on the pedigreeds on the same playing fields. Why should my flatcoated retrievers have all the fun?

You want him to join your party? Let us play. Really play. Do more than take my money and give me a patronizing pat on the head.

Two years ago, a couple days after Christmas, a girl of 11 or so approached me as I was coming out of Petsmart.

“Do you want a free baby bunny?” she asked. She had been crying, and she held a tiny brown bunny. I talked to her for a few minutes, and figured out — a little reading between the lines — that non-custodial dad had decided at the last minute to give his kid a baby bunny, without a shelter, food or dishes. Custodial mom had nixed this idea, and had driven the kid to Petsmart parking lot to dump the bun.

“If I can’t get rid of it,” said the kid, “mom says to just turn it loose in the parking lot.”

I took the bunny. I didn’t take the urine-soaked cardboard box he’d been living in or the wilted iceberg lettuce that had been standing in for food. Instead, I put the soft little guy on my shoulder and drove home, assuring the girl that her rabbit had found a good home. I’m not sure she really cared, and I am quite sure neither of her idiotic parents did.

Velocity is still with me. I had him neutered and he lives happily on a healthy diet of grass hay and fresh greens.

Heaven knows how many throwaway pets that family has gone through since. Honestly, it makes you wish people had to pass a test to be parents.

I’m thinking of that story because he’s happily munching his favorite meal — beets with the greens left on them — and because over on Lassie Get Help, Luisa has a good post on the same subject, albeit about dogs in particular. Go over and see what the U.S.D.A. believes is a space large enough that “breeding stock” need never leave it. What she says about people not knowing about puppy mills is sadly quite true. Christie and I have both been stunned to realize that many people have no idea. (That’s like how when the Michael Vick thing first broke, a guy I work with said, “I don’t see what’s the big deal. When I was growing up our dog would fight sometimes. Dogs fight, right.” He didn’t realize that this wasn’t a couple of dogs scrapping at a dog park, and he was blissfully unaware of organized dog-fighting.)

None of the regular readers here would buy a pet without any planning — and I surely hope none would support a puppy mill by buying from a pet store or direct-sale Internet puppy site — but if your Web browsing has brought you here because you’re looking for for a last minute gift … please stop and think.

Better you should teach your child compassion and responsibility than that living, feeling animals are something to toss into a parking lot because you can’t be bothered. Because it seems to me that a child who grows up with such an attitude isn’t going to look too kindly on the needs of aging parents.

Just saying.

… and don’t buy from a pet-store or direct-sell internet puppy site. From Newsweek:

Some of [the dogs] live in rabbit hutches with no heat, no air conditioning, no protection from the elements. Sometimes they don’t even have a roof over their heads. I’m thinking right now about the puppies in Oklahoma, with the ice storm they’re having. There are dogs right now in puppy mills there that are shivering and huddling close together, trying to stay warm. But as long as they are alive, and producing more puppies, the people running these places don’t care about the suffering.

They don’t care about the suffering. Do you? When you buy a puppy from a pet store or Internet puppy site, you’re making sure this industry continues.

The power to stop puppy mills in in your hands.  Don’t support this cruel industry.