Editorial: October 11, 2024
As of this writing, nine delegates have expressed a desire to serve on the board of directors of the American Kennel Club. The four directors whose four-year term is expiring include chairman Thomas Davies, vice chairman Dominic Carota, Rita Biddle and Thomas Powers. Of those four, only Tom Davies is eligible to run again, as Carota, Biddle and Powers are restricted because of term limits. The nominating committee for the upcoming Class of 2029 includes chair Karolynne McAteer, delegate of the Irish Setter Club of America; Joellen Gregory, delegate of the Otterhound Club of America; Don Hanson, delegate of the Lhasa Apso Club of America; Maggi Strouse, delegate of the National Shiba Club of America, and Mary Lou Olszewski of the American Bloodhound Club. Interesting that all five committee members represent parent clubs. The two alternates were Cindy Stansell of the Grand River Kennel Club and Marjorie Tuff of the American Shetland Sheepdog Association.
The committee nominated Tom Davies, delegate of the Springfield Kennel Club; Kenneth Levison of the Tucson Kennel Club; Sylvia Thomas of the Kennel Club of Riverside (California), and former board member Harvey Wooding of the San Mateo Kennel Club. The other five remaining delegates expressing interest in running for the board would do so by petition. Those running by petition have until the November 15 deadline.
It’s refreshing that there are more delegates interested in running for the board of directors than there were last year. That means more thoughts and ideas about how to improve and correct the direction of the kennel club in years to come. To make the hard decisions about recognizing the lack of public awareness of purebred-dog ownership and the unrecognized health programs underwritten by the AKC Canine Health Foundation to improve the health of all dogs. Why hasn’t a national campaign to raise funds been established when more than half the households in the United States own a dog? Think of the double bonus of the additional funds donated to help further research and the public awareness of the American Kennel Club and the good works that they do. On a more grass-roots level, there is the number of dog shows that the American Kennel Club approves and the endless weekends of long clustered shows that have dismal entries, as well as the lopsided use of one venue that takes away our presence in the communities they abandon.
We can’t just keep kicking these down the road. These are real and present issues that need to be addressed. New and progressive thinking is what’s needed to move ahead.