Editorial: March 22, 2024

On March 12, the American Kennel Club held its annual meeting. That meeting, usually with the highest attendance by the delegates, includes the elections of the new members of the board of directors. The Class of 2024, whose four-year term was ending, included Carmen Battaglia, delegate from the German Shepherd Dog Club; Michael Knight, delegate from the Texas Kennel Club, and Karolynn McAteer, delegate from the Irish Setter Club of America. A nominating committee chosen by the board of directors was chaired by former board member Patti Strand, delegate from the Dog Fanciers Association of Oregon. The nominating committee invited roughly six delegates for the three director seats that were to become available. They selected seated directors Carmen Battaglia and Michael Knight. The third seated director, Karolynn McAteer, was ineligible due to term limits. The delegates previously voted to have term limits for no more than two consecutive four-year terms. However, unlike the president of the United States, who can only serve two terms, whether concurrently or separately, our directors only need to sit out one year and they can run again. That’s why even with term limits, you repeatedly see the same people holding that position. Moreover, the number of delegates running from the floor has decreased year and after year. The nominating committee’s third choice was Sally Fineburg, the delegate from the Hatboro Dog Club. The only delegate to run from the floor by petition was Laurie Maulucci, delegate from the South Windsor Kennel Club. When the votes were counted, the three delegates nominated by the nominating committee were victorious, with Carmen Battaglia with 227 votes, Michael Knight with 234 votes, Sally Fineburg with 211 votes, and Laurie Maulucci with 142 votes. With the new board in place, Tom Davies was re-elected as chairman of the board and Dominic Carota was re-elected as vice chairman. We congratulate the re-elected and new board members, who are ready to tackle heady topics that need addressing: the number of dog shows and shows clustered in one location, the number of judges advancing to keep up with the cluster shows (let’s remember, clustered dog shows were introduced as a temporary fix due to the gas crisis), the need for more group judges, the public’s perception of purebred dogs versus shelter dogs, and other issues that face our sport. From the hundreds of delegates representing member clubs, it is rather sad that only four delegates choose to run for the three available seats. Let’s hope that next year, there is more participation. Then we will know who’s waiting in the wings for their turn.