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Today Show segment about bad breeders

1K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  kaloric 
#1 ·
#2 ·
The AKC sent out an email about how biased the segment was. I haven't watched. It seems the logical solution is for them to actually look into complaints on kennels with registered dogs. And that seems unlikely considering how much that would cost. The only thing that will shut places like that down is people refusing to buy their puppies. It would be more effective to have segments on how to responsibly buy a dog. But you still will have people who aren't going to spend thousands of dollars on a dog.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Great artile DobeAndBorderCollie ....thks for sharing...2 paragraphs struck an accord., with me:

When you go to buy a puppy, you want it to be happy, healthy and well-treated. A lot of people count on the American Kennel Club to find a breeder. When you see that AKC seal, you think to yourself: "I'm getting a good dog." But we've discovered disgusting conditions and sick dogs at AKC-registered operations.

But critics say there's an ugly reality you don't see: Some AKC breeders raising diseased dogs, malnourished, living in their own filth. It's so disturbing that now two of the country's largest animal welfare groups, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane Society, are condemning the AKC.

^^^^ Last photo of my old girl Amy:
Your Baron love story and traggic passing and subsquent grief & dober depression - paralleled my Amy & her Dad...late last August.
- my last breeder didn't have a planned litter till Spring of next year, and YES...I could not wait...just like you
BUT did I dishonour my beloved girl....HELL NO.
- you see this DT forum "opened up my eyes" to BYB, after I joined and the horrible living conditions of the bitches, pumping out just cute puppies

You see, the difference in your dog and mine was, the sex - one plants the seed and the other whelps the puppies...again & again / over & over.
- with no 24/7 loving family, no couch to lay on, no master bed at night, no trip to the hardware store, no ice cream cone on a Saturday afternoon, no walk in the park, not part of a family bbq & no happy face to see when Dad or Mom comes home from work either
In less than 2 months I was choosing a baby girl, from 3 highly respected litters and YOU just bought on LAZY impulse...plain & simple.
- now you had lost a boy and I lost a girl, only difference in the hands of a PUPPY MILL, my girl would have lead the worst life possible...while Baron if the stud dog, would be just shooting his load...so to speak.

So you may not think you dishonoured your beloved dober boy, BUT you infact did.
And many BYB puppies to follow comes from these quick or uneducated buying decisions.
- I hope Baron will forgive you, when you see him next time, @ heaven gate
 
#4 ·
"We oppose breeder limit laws, because it's not the number of dogs that you own, it's the care and conditions in which they're kept," Lisa Peterson, director of communications.

have HUGE issues with this statement. BYB or otherwise, there SHOULD be a limit on the number of dogs. The more dogs you have the harder it becomes to give them all quality care and attention they need. If I have a kennel the size of Family Dobes or Hoytt there is gong to have to be outside help or you would not be able to give each dog the individual attention it needs. I would not buy a Hoytt dog simply based on the fact I have heard of them having multiple litters at the same time. How can you manage several whelpings at one time when you are one person.

I feel the AKC can and should do more to properly insure the breeders they list are ethical, reputable and not biting off more than they can chew with half a dozen breeding females all producing at the same time. Im no expert but I would think that 2 breeding females would be plenty, any more becomes difficult to handle.
 
#6 ·
It's another organization taking the blame because individuals do not want to be responsible for their own actions. It's becoming a theme in this country and it's the reason we are over-legislated, soon to be super over-legislated.

I don't know, does the AKC need to be more diligent in reporting complaints to authorities? Don't we all know how difficult it is for authorities to get dogs out of neglectful situations?

This is the media doing what the media does. They twist the stories to fit their needs. Each side has their own points but they choose to show what will get the biggest reaction.
 
#8 ·
It's another organization taking the blame because individuals do not want to be responsible for their own actions. It's becoming a theme in this country and it's the reason we are over-legislated, soon to be super over-legislated.
Laws and regulations are not for those with integrity who take responsibility for their actions. Regulations of this nature are especially for the bottom-feeders who have no qualms neglecting living creatures if they stand to make a quick buck off the misery they cause. Laws are how we hold people accountable for their actions when they are too ethically-bankrupt to hold themselves to a reasonable standard of conduct.

I don't know, does the AKC need to be more diligent in reporting complaints to authorities? Don't we all know how difficult it is for authorities to get dogs out of neglectful situations?
I would be perfectly happy if the AKC simply stopped throwing its weight around as it opposes every little common-sense breeder regulation law. I don't expect a studbook to save all the mistreated dogs. I just am disgusted by their ongoing efforts to ensure that the worst greeders will continue to be largely unregulated and completely unaccountable, making so much money while neglecting their breeding stock, until they cross that magical line where their mistreatment of animals becomes animal cruelty.

They want no breeder licensing requirements, period.
They want to make sure that breeders don't have to register anywhere.
They want no state dept. of agriculture administered breeder inspections, period.
They want no limits on the number of litters a greeder can produce in a year or the number of breeding animals they have, period.

They want no limits on anything, they want to tie the hands of authorities so they can only stop the worst breeders when the line has already been crossed, and animals are suffering so horribly the only answer is for the sheriff to confiscate them to free them from their deplorable conditions. And then, they want to make sure those greeders can just walk away with a slap on the wrist, to start producing & selling more AKC-reg puppies in the next county over, wash-rinse-repeat.

Again, I don't expect the AKC to carry the burden of making sure their breeders are being decent human beings. All I want is for them to stay out of the way of licensing and regulating breeders who produce substantially large quantities of puppies and have a lot of animals to begin with.

Even better, though, they could wield their influence to help good laws succeed.
 
#7 ·
what I find ironic is instead of doing the story they did why didn't they do a piece on back yard breeders and ask why if so many jurisdictions have breeding laws in place why are they not being enforced at all. In my state we have strict legislation that prohibits back yard breeding as well as mandatory spay and neuter laws yet I've seen puppies sold in parking lots right in front of police and at flea markets. I also see tons of craigslist ads why isnt there a task force set up to respond to these ads and enforce the laws? It boggles my mind and I'm so sick of hearing of lack of funding because prevention would save so many hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in shelter funding and unecessary euth's by preventing the escalation of the problem. Its like they put these laws in place knowing full well they have no plan of enforcing them. Penny wise in making the laws yet dollar dumb in enforcing them for their original purpose.
 
#9 ·
Would it be up to the breed organizations themselves to regulate their own breeders? I know DPCA has breeders of merit and stuff.

I guess I see your point that they can't have it both ways. Either only be a registry and competition regulator and stay out of anything to do with breeders and laws or be more proactive with who is and is not allowed to register dogs.

Just because some people cannot follow their own ethics (or have any period) does not mean there needs to be more laws. I think this has been debated to death in terms of gun laws. The puppy millers and BYB will not follow laws even if they exist. In the end it just ends up hurting those who do follow the laws.

Each breed of dog also has it's own needs. No one would consider someone who keeps 10 dobermans in outside kennels to be responsible. What about a Fox Hound breeder who replicates hunts with horses? They take a huge pack of dogs and probably have a lot of dogs who don't mind kennels. Now that person's hands are tied because of some law.

My point is, law breakers will always be law breakers. More laws don't make people more compliant. The public's view of the responsible way to buy a dog needs to change. Then slowly, puppy millers, BYBs will not be selling dogs. They will have fewer litters.

I personally do not feel it is the AKC's job to police people. It is their job to make sure what is registered is accurate. Perhaps like horse breed registries they need to mandate DNA testing on all registered puppies. And if that is too much work for all the breeds, then like horses they should leave all registering and records up to the parent breed club and only regulate competition.
 
#10 ·
Here is the email from the DPCA from the AKC:

The AKC is extremely disappointed that The Today Show was given all of the information below but chose not to include any of it in their segment this morning. We met with the producers for an hour prior to the taped interview - which also lasted nearly an hour - and we provided them with supporting documentation, and they chose only to include less than 1 minute of airtime for AKC. They disregarded important facts that should have been told. In fact, we requested to receive a copy of the tape of the entire, unedited interview with Jeff Rossen so that we could show you all of the information we gave them, but their lawyers refused to provide the footage to us.

Here are some top facts that The Today Show didn't tell you: 1. They didn't tell you that no other organization does more to protect dogs than the AKC and that "being the dog's champion" means, among other things, donating more than $24 million to canine health research, conducting kennel inspections, and offering more educational programs for responsible dog owners than any other organization.

2. They didn't tell you that when an AKC inspector finds substandard kennel conditions they must immediately report it to the appropriate federal, state and local authorities to take action. 3. They didn't tell you that, in many instances, the highly publicized raids for which animal rights groups take credit in the media have come about as a direct result of AKC's reporting to law enforcement. 4. They didn't tell you that, as we explained to Jeff Rossen and his producers numerous times, there are no "AKC Registered Operations" or "AKC Registered Breeders" and that breeders use AKC services voluntarily. 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. 6. They didn't tell you that AKC saw substandard breeders leave the registry in droves in the mid-1990's when we instituted an inspections program. We did it anyway, even though it affected our bottom line negatively, because it was the right thing to do for dogs. And, more breeders left when we began DNA testing. 7. They didn't tell you that when AKC has concerns with legislation, it publicly puts legislative alerts on its website where anyone can learn about how a bill may potentially affect responsible breeders and dog owners' rights and not do anything to protect dogs. 8. They didn't tell you that AKC works to ensure the enforcement of cruelty and neglect laws, as well as the provisions of the federal Animal Welfare Act. As a result, AKC has a productive working relationship with local animal controls, state and local law enforcement, state departments of agriculture throughout the country, as well as the USDA. 9. They didn't tell you that AKC is well respected by lawmakers who consider us credible experts on dog issues, and rely on our thoughtful and considered advice when it comes to legislation that will impact dogs and their breeders and owners. 10. They didn't tell you that the purebred rescue groups they referenced are actually AKC breed parent club groups and affiliates that make up the largest dog rescue group network in the country. 11. They didn't tell you that The Today Show's Natalie Morales made a TV public service announcement in conjunction with the Ad Council and the HSUS. Please send your comments directly to the Producer of the Today Show Don Nash don.nash@nbcuni.com and the President of NBC News Phil Griffin phil.griffin@nbcuni.com
 
#11 ·
It is fact that the DPCA and other dog clubs around the country have delegates that are the voting members of the AKC. If you want to change policy, best to get involved and be a delegate or talk to one when you want changes. The AKC is only as good as the member make it.

I do not support substandard care and our dogs are housedogs. None of the people I know in dogs support cruelty either. I think they need to enforce the laws we have and make cruelty to animals a more serious crime. It is just a shame but don't think making laws and restrictions on breeders that aren't in this group pay the bill is the answer either.
 
#12 ·
I'd like to see all breeders pay their fair share of licensing, and have to play by the same rules. It doesn't work for me when people who do things the proper way have to struggle, while those who do everything wrong are allowed to freely roam about and damage the breed and leave their customers holding the bag.

With as many dogs as wind-up in shelters and rescues, society is paying the cost for the bad breeders as well. Everyone pays, while they make their puppy-milling profits at our expense.
 
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