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AKC DELEGATE
REPORT - CAROL CLARK |
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The AKC delegates’ meetings were held on June 6-7, 2010 in sunny, hot, and humid Atlanta GA. The committee meetings were held on Sunday, June 6.
The Herding-Earthdog-Coursing (HEC) committee was first up at 9am. There were two positions available on the committee to complete terms and three people expressed interest. Thomas Barrie of the West Highland White Terrier Club of America and me were voted by the committee to complete these terms. These terms expire in September, but there are four three year terms open in September, so I hope to be elected to one of those positions. I feel, as the premier herding breed in AKC, the BCSA should have a member present on the committee. That was the reason I was elected at this meeting, so I feel confident that it will happen again in September.
Business discussed: A herding DVD is being worked to provide education to all breed clubs to help present herding tests and trials and hopefully increase the number of all breed trials that would be interested in having trials. Money will be needed to help fund this project, probably $500 to $1000 and hopefully when the project is written and presented parent clubs will donate to this project.
Gerard Baudet, delegate from the Rhode Island Kennel Club and herding judge, has developed software for herding tests and trials that he hopes to make available to clubs. This would decrease the amount of paperwork that club secretaries have to use at herding tests and trials.
The Wheaton Terrier has been approved to enter herding events, effective 1/1/2011.
The Endurance Earthdog title has been successful with 13 requests for title since May, with one Endurance Earthdog II.
The Coursing Advisory committee is complete and the Herding Advisory Committee recommendations will be taken to the board in July for approval by the board. Things requiring IT major programming will not happen as there are no funds for IT program changes. The Herding Judge Education Seminar change to 5 years will not likely pass, all others are at 3 years and they need to be consistent.
The statistics for the second quarter from Doug Ljungren, assistant VP, performance events, were given. Overall performance stats through the end of April were down 3.3%, mostly due to poor weather and events being cancelled. That said, herding entries were up 13%, coursing entries up 9% and earthdog entries up 13%. Events cancelled by weather were mostly field and hunt trials.
The unlimited number of herding
tests that clubs can now have is leading hopefully to herding group tests and
tests held at fairs. There is hope that a pilot project for 4H herding can be
started. I am talking to a 4H leader about it here in Missouri and will report
back to the committee in September. If any of you are working with 4H groups and
would be interested please contact me at my email address.
The Boxer Club continues to inquire about obtaining herding status for their
breed.
The second tier of recommendations from the Herding Advisory were mentioned, and there will not be a Herding National or Invitational and no separate set of points for livestock. The current method of different points for livestock, which is event numbers within the events, allows us to circumvent this.
The HEC completed at 11am so I was able to attend the last 30 minutes of the all breed committee meeting. By laws were being discussed when I entered and Mike Liosi from AKC recommended that since AKC now has partial loss of privileges it affects our clubs bylaw statements. His recommendation was that the language used is “Any member who has lost ‘any’ AKC privileges loses club privileges.
The Parent Club Committee met at 1 pm and the major discussion was “Facing the Impact of Decreasing Registrations.” Less than 40% of all puppies born are being registered with AKC and this impacts everyone that competes in AKC events. The registrations pay for most of AKC business, and this includes subsidizing events. We could see services cut if registrations continue to decline, since we have dropped 50% in the last 10 years. The Parent Club Conference in August will cover this, as well as rescue, among other things.
The Obedience-Tracking-Agility Committee met also at 1 pm so I was able to attend part of that meeting. Any match, show and go, etc. that is open to non-members MUST be sent to AKC as a C match ahead of time. There have been instances of abuse at these matches, mainly held after dog shows, and without proper documentation, there is no one to hold liable except the event giving club of the day. Locations of obedience and rally rings should be close enough to major action so they can get observers, not held separately. Many exhibitors prefer the quiet rings away from activity, but if we want to grow our sport, we need more people participating and they get interested by observing. There is a new Yahoo list, inviting all breed clubs first, called Obedience Now and In the Future, a program from AKC, started by the OTA committee, to help make all breed clubs more interested in having obedience and rally. It was recommended that the advisory committees be delayed since it is taking longer and longer to get recommendations through the Board. Also 4 more breeds want the ¾ jump height, so the committee is going to look at the jump heights for everyone.
The Caucus convened at 4:00 and the judges’ approval process was discussed at great length, along with the conformation judges’ annual fee. Deaf dogs in agility will come to the board in July. There is discussion of a “baby class” for 4-6 mo puppies, without points being given. This concluded business for Sunday.
Monday morning started at 7:30 am with the legislative caucus and Patti Strand, delegate and member of the NAIA and Sheila Goff, AKC Governmental Affairs liaison, spoke about the Bateson report on the BBC and the problems it has presented to The Kennel Club in the UK. The AKC is in a better position but we still have to be very aware of any animal rights legislation. Currently Rhode Island has a bill that any outside penning longer than 75 minutes is illegal, unless you are outside with the dog. This would mean that your dog wouldn’t be free to play and dig in your own back yard for an hour and a half. The HSUS has a federal bill pending to encourage states to ban dock and crop. This would not only affect companion animals, but think of the farmers that dock sheep tails for the health reasons. Missouri has a ballot initiative, sponsored by the HSUS, stating people are against puppy mill cruelty (nothing to determine what that would be) and limiting people to 50 intact dogs. The Missouri Federation for Animal Welfare has a suit against the Secretary of the State stating this language is prejudicial. There is a “New Pups” bill, Federal legislation by Richard Durban, which would open the Animal Welfare bill.
The Forum convened at 9 am and the AKC Club Relations website was discussed and explained. It has a lot of information that is available to clubs regarding bylaw changes, committees, discipline, licensed events, establishing a club, etc. Especially notable is the new “Opt-In” program, which will provide new registrants with your club information, which could be helpful for all clubs, at obtaining new members for obedience, conformation, and herding, etc. clubs.
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The General Caucus convened at 10am.
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The Glen of Imaal Terrier Club of America was approved as a member.
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The Chairman reported that the first Grand Champion, a Weimaraner, and the first Endurance Earthdog, a Border Terrier were crowned.
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Parent club titles can now be approved by AKC and the first one will be by the Bloodhound Club of American and is the Man trailing title. This will open clubs to have these titles added to their names and pedigrees, that before were not allowed.
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The President reported that the conformation judges’ fee, which was announced in May, will be withdrawn and reevaluated.
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The Financial statement for the first 4 months of 2010 was compared with the corresponding months in 2009. Income of registrations is down 1.1 million, fees and pedigrees are down 10%, royalties down 19%. Total expenses of payroll, benefits, and all other operating expenses are down almost 1million dollars. The only good thing is the gain on investments is up 1.6 million or 2 ½ per cent on the year.
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Awards were presented by John Lyons. The Community Achievement award for the first quarter went to the Lawrenceville GA Kennel Club and the Belle City Kennel Club. The first Walter Bebout award (Walt with the first governmental affairs officer, who died in a tragic auto accident) went to the North Carolina Federation of Dog Clubs.
The next delegates meeting will be held on Sept 14, 2010 in Newark New Jersey.
Respectfully submitted, Carol Clark
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Page Updated 06.12.2010