Editorial: March 21, 2025

With the recent election of the Class of 2028, three American Kennel Club delegates were elected to the board of directors for the first time: Eduardo Fugiwara, delegate from the Two Cities Kennel Club; Robin Stansell, delegate from the French Bull Dog Club of America, and Sylvia Thomas, delegate from the Kennel Club of Riverside. The fourth director, Tom Davies, delegate from the Springfield Kennel Club, was re-elected. Other than the email sent out by the former board of directors praising Dennis Sprung for his years of service, we still have never been told why he was so hastily replaced and why it took so long to announce the elevation of Gina DiNardo as the new president. Questions that should be answered. Now we have three new directors who did not take part in the vote to fire Dennis Sprung, so maybe they could be more forthcoming with an official statement. But there are other issues that still need to be addressed. Internally we need to address the amount and location of dog shows and externally the public perception of the sport of purebred dogs and the role the American Kennel Club plays in it: That we are a community that loves all dogs but we specialize without apology in purebred dogs. The amount of dog shows week after week, with little or no time for the dogs or their handlers to be at home. The ever-growing trend of clustering dog shows in one location without regard to the areas they leave behind, while the animal-rights and shelter advocates remain to influence political and public opinion. The unanswered bad press that purebred dog breeders receive from organizations like PETA and other animal-rights group accusing us of being elitist and breeders of unhealthy dogs that should not be purchased or owned in favor of shelter dogs. The American Kennel Club needs to employ an advertising agency to create a national campaign before the dog-show world as we know it disintegrates into extinction. This sounds dire, but the situation is serious: While performance entries are rising, conformation is not. Adding shows within shows and two shows in one day might satisfy the profit margin of fees for the American Kennel Club, but it does nothing to promote dog shows and stem the loss of exhibitors and spectators who might otherwise participate in the sport. Having new directors with hopefully new ideas and direction for the future of the sport is what we hope a new broom does — sweeps clean. We have had enough of the same old dust.