The Gossip Column: April 24, 2026

The board of directors of the AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB have reelected the three executive officers: President & CEO GINA DINARDO, Chief Financial Officer THEODORE PHILLIPS and Executive Secretary SHEILA GOFFE and AKC REUNITE held their board of directors and officers elections. Board members elected were DANIEL SMYTH, the delegate from the Burlington County Kennel Club, ANN WALLIN, the delegate from the Atlanta Kennel Club, were reelected and SALLY FINEBURG, delegate from the Hatboro Dog Club was newly elected. Reelected as President and CEO was TOM SHARP and reelected as Secretary and Treasurer was THEODORE PHILLIPS. It’s never too soon to purchase good seats to any sporting event and WESTMINSTER is no exception. Tickets for the 2027 WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB, are now on sale for the Saturday, January 30th Agility competition held at the Javits Center and for the Monday, February 1st and Tuesday, February 2nd daytime Javits Center breed judging and the Monday and Tuesday evening Madison Square Garden evening group and best in show judging. Contact the Westminster Kennel Club at info@westminsterkennelclub.org for further information. All of us at DOG NEWS were very saddened to hear that ALBERT STAUDT, JR., dog show superintendent for the RAU DOG SHOW ORGANIZATION, passed away on April 13th. We send our deepest sympathies to his family and his fellow co-workers at RAU and his many friends. In one of those animal rights raids of yore, hundreds of animal rights activists from the DIRECT ACTION EVERYWHERE gathered at the RAGLAN FARMS where thousands of Beagles, as reported by KATIE BENNER & TAYLOR GLASCOCK in the NEW YORK TIMES, are bred for resale for research and experiments aimed at improving veterinary medicine. Reports of mistreatment are denied by the company.  Officers with tear gas and rifles with rubber bullets held the activists at bay. Last fall the facility, located in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin was investigated by a special prosecutor and found the facility preformed experiments that were deemed animal mistreatment. No prosecution was administered as the facility agreed to surrender their state license by July 1st. which would end their ability to sell to outside labs.