Did any one see the Today Show?
 

I just caught the end of the part with the lady from akc. I wasn't to happy with what she was saying. Only 9 inspectors to cover such a big area. It broke my heart to see all the dogs that they were showing.

I watches the whole segment. It was really sad. The individual from AKC really was lacking in her answers. Some of those dogs are in terrible places, yet they have the AKC stamp of approval.

I saw about 30 seconds as I was leaving work. I was gonna read it tonight if I get time at work. I found the link AKC-registered breeders raising dogs in 'miserable' conditions - News - MSN CA
I also found other links about the story
AKC-registered breeders raising dogs in 'miserable' conditions - TODAY.com
AKC expects drama from the Today Show..
I haven't read through these yet, but I feel it will be interesting. Since I'm getting ready to go to bed, I make it a point to try and not get p***ed off because then I stay up all day on the computer.:rolleyes:

Very bad public relations for the AKC, but that was their fault for providing such a poorly prepared spokesperson. I still believe in the AKC as a registration service for ensuring pure bloodlines, but they can't be expected to be on top of every breeder and kennel to make sure that they are up to health standards--that should be the job of the local authorities, to make sure that ALL breeders raise dogs in a humane manner, not just the ones that raise AKC-registered dogs.

Dear God, that video is so very very heartbreaking. I don't know whether to be angry, cry, or keep doing both.

Yes, there are dogs that are registered by the AKC and they live in horrible conditions. The AKC is concerned mainly with “purebreds”, not how the dogs are raised. The AKC says that it can't go any tougher than state laws permit, so if a state doesn't demand certain kennel conditions, the AKC can’t do anything about it. The AKC is a registry and it's very strict on record keeping and if your records aren't in perfect order you can be banished easily. The AKC needs to do better on insisting on humane kennel conditions, although many puppy mills have been thrown out for inhumane conditions, they can just join another registry or make up their own. Also, once a USDA inspector finds a kennel is registered with the AKC, they no longer inspect them, because they say that the AKC is tougher than them. This just isn’t right. Unfortunately, the AKC is still led by commercial breeders and I wish more pet owners would register their dogs so that our needs would be heard. He who holds the money has the power. Bottom line is it's still the pet owner’s job, to approve of how breeding dogs are being raised.

I think people are under the assumption that "AKC Inspected" means that the AKC does health inspections of the dogs, but that is not the case.

When the AKC inspects a kennel they ONLY inspect that the kennel's RECORDS are complete and up to date and they check all the dogs for proper tags/identification. If a kennel is found not to be in compliance with their record keeping and identification, the AKC will shut them down until the problems are corrected.

They will do an on premise visual kennel inspection to insure that the dogs have food, water, proper bedding, ventilation, etc., and that will be at the address on the breeder's registration with the AKC. They may ask if there are additional kennel's off property, but if the breeder doesn't tell them they will not know.

That's why it's so important to visit the kennel personally, and always get a health guarantee!

I agree with that. I guess the next question is what can we as AKC registered dog owners and reputable breeders do to make them more accountable for the fees we pay for registering puppies we have purchased, or litters we have registered?

Just what I paid alone to register Bentley X's the number of new puppies registered by new owners each year surely would provide enough funding for more the 9 inspectors for the entire nation. Since I'm not a breeder I had no idea that breeders paid to register litters, so there are more funds there.

Not one organization can alone be responsible for all the bad in the dog breeding industry, but I think one that puts themselves at the pinnacle of pure breed registry and offers "AKC Approval" to breeders should pull their weight.

I'm grateful that I found a breeder that is in it for the love of the breed, but it makes me sick to think of all those other dogs just as precious as my Bentley who suffer for the almighty dollar. Both by breeders and the organizations that claim to approve them.

I have AKC on my Facebook. I have not had the chance to actually read this yet. Will look at it tonight but this seems to be their official response to the Today Show report.

The Facts The Today Show Didn?t Tell You | AKC Dog Lovers

Wow, I did read it, Anne. A lot of denials and self pats on their back. When you do get a chance to read it, please see if you can figure out what #11 has to do with ANYTHING?

Points #5 and #11 have nothing to do with anything except bashing the Humane Society. That is not a good thing to do if they are interested in damage control. I am very disappointed in the AKC response, and I have let them know that on their Facebook page, which they seem to monitor closely.

I had to go back and read #5 again, and I agree, it's pretty bad form.

No 5 is fine. No 11 I don't understand. But that Today report was totally biased. For shame Today show:thumbdown:thumbdown

The thing about #5 is there is an underlying assumption that the Humane Society is involved in some kind of conspiracy with the the Today Show to smear the AKC. Point #5 is totally irrelevant to whether or not AKC does a good job of inspecting breeding facilities, so why mention the Humane Society at all? My Bella is AKC registered and came from a good breeder, and now I consider myself extremely lucky that was the case. I bought an AKC registered Siberian Husky from a pet store puppy mill when I was much younger and had worse luck--it had severe health and behavioral issues. The Today Show did a good job of demonstrating that just because a dog is AKC registered does not mean that it does not come from an inhumane puppy mill. That is a brute fact, and the show was NOT biased. And the AKC's official representative came off looking like a total idiot. Not only did she not know how many inspections the AKC does, or the percentage of AKC breeders that are inspected, but she also stated that the AKC opposes legislation that would limit the number of dogs that can be bred by breeders, claiming that high quantity does not imply low quality. In other words, she was lobbying for puppy mills. The more I think about it, the more upset I get. I need to take a break and play with my Bella...

They say, in point 5, "They didn’t tell you that less than 5% of AKC’s registration revenue comes from commercial breeders or that the AKC is a not-for-profit organization whose total revenues are less than the total marketing budget of the HSUS." I would really really like to know more about that 5% figure, other sources say 80%. How does the AKC define commercial breeder, and how could we learn if 5% number is true, I really have a hard time believe that. I agree with pstinard, why even mention the HSUS? I'm sick of the argument that if HSUS is for something. it must be bad.

I think that it is sad, the conditions that the dogs were in just broke my heart! I have 5 yorkie babies and my dee was Ckc registered and breed her to my akc male although he looked perfect small body,full silky coat, ears up his gene pool wasn't the best. First litter of pups was cottony coats except for 2 one was wirey haired, and 1 traditional coat I had both my female and male checked DNA and gene most of Sam gene was lower case while dee was mostly upper case according to my vet even though they are pure bred that Sam should not be breed due to his genes he would produce "pet" yorkies only! I am trying to achieve the "standard" but question Akc rules now (Sam dad was DNAed as part of the breeder program)