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Editorial: July 22, 2022

Is there a Delegate in the house?

In this issue of Dog News, Margaret Poindexter addresses issues that go totally unasked and ignored by the delegate body. Margaret’s latest article pointedly addresses the profit and loss of the American Kennel Club and executive pay and bonuses in relation to the organization’s earnings.

These questions, like many others that concern the health of the sport, seem to go unquestioned by the delegate body. The delegates have a unique opportunity when they have the executives and board members in the room to ask the questions that need to be asked – an opportunity not afforded to us in the fancy. In recent years, breaking an old tradition, the board members refused to answer questions concerning the direction of the American Kennel Club and how they see its future. Yes, we hear of their great works, some that should be applauded. But we are only told what they choose to tell us. Yet there are hard and fast questions that need to be addressed but are pushed aside. We fear that many of the problems facing us today are going unasked and unanswered. For example, how do we promote the ownership of purebred dogs to the public and distinguish ourselves from popular crossbred dogs like cockerpoos and labradoodles? Or the advantages of purebred dog ownership and the good works of the grossly under-publicized AKC Canine Health Foundation in their funding of canine research? Why does the American Kennel Club promote and allow so many dog shows to be held outside of their own areas, resulting in some shows being held outside of the states in which they were incorporated? Why do they allow all the clustering of these shows, and without representation in the areas that were left behind? What purpose do they serve? How is the public educated and exposed to purebred dogs, other than revenue for the American Kennel Club? The 600-plus member clubs each are entitled to a delegate to represent them at the delegates meeting. Sadly, the attendance record is rather dismal, with those present amounting to approximately 300 to 350 delegates. This handful creates and votes on rules that affect us all. If you belong to a local kennel club and/or a parent club, does your delegate regularly attend delegate meetings, and do you get reports from your delegate after each meeting? If not, why not? For the most part, when you talk to delegates they wax poetic about the committees they serve on and what great work they are accomplishing. This is the time, before we completely dilute our sport, to roll up your sleeves and ask the hard questions. So … Is there a delegate in the house?

 

 

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