Editorial: January 26, 2024

There are four delegates running for the three seats from the Class of 2024 that will be vacated and voted upon at the upcoming March annual meeting of the American Kennel Club. Three delegates were nominated by the nominating committee, which consisted of former board member and chairperson Patti Strand, delegate from the Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon, along with her committee members Marilyn DeGregorio from the Taconic Hills Kennel Club, Florence Duggan from the Sussex Hills Kennel Club, Don James from the Leonberger Club of America and Barbara Shaw from the Greater Collin Kennel Club. There were two alternates selected: Terrie Breen from the Farmington Valley Kennel Club and Douglas Johnson from the Colorado Springs Kennel Club. The nominating committee selected three delegates from a very limited field of applicants. They selected two seated directors — Carmen Battaglia, delegate from the German Shepherd Dog Club of America, who has served on the board for approximately 25 years, and Michael Knight, delegate from the Texas Kennel Club, who is seeking his second term as a director — and Sally Fineburg, delegate from the Hatboro Dog Club, making her first run for the board. One, Laurie Maulucci, delegate from the South Windsor Kennel Club, is running by petition. Meaning she had enough delegate signatures on a petition to run from the floor. Bottom line is that only four people are running for three seats. If you care — and you should — you can read the three-minute speeches that they gave to their fellow delegates at the delegates meeting. As one would expect, each spoke to their involvement in purebred dogs and their personal and business achievements. There wasn’t much discussion about the present and future vision for the American Kennel Club, with the exception of Laurie Maulucci, who did address the need for, and we quote, “enhancing the general public’s knowledge of who we are …” and to quote her again: “Our detractors constantly find a way to secure media coverage for their good deeds, yet our initiatives like trailers being rolled out to disaster sites never make the 6 o’clock news.” A point of view that we share and have endorsed for many years. Directors need to have vision — that’s why they serve on boards. They hold the good in the status quo and improve on those areas that need improvement. They don't have to reinvent the wheel, maybe just change the flat. Whoever wins, Dog News wishes them the best of luck and success.