American Media Opinions

American Media Opinions

By Martin Wahl

Reader's Digest Special Feature: Scandal of America’s Puppy Mills You can't afford NOT to read this one!

The Atlantic Monthly in its March 1990 issue fired a national controversy by publishing a 16 page cover story entitled: "The Politics of Dogs" by Mark Derr. The subtitle reads: "An organization created to protect the purity of dog bloodlines has become, a journalist argues, misguided in its view of "quality" and guilty of encouraging destructive forms of inbreeding that have robbed dogs of traditional skills and left them vulnerable to crippling disease”, and “The AKC not only has been slow in investigating genetic disorders but also has not taken steps to encourage their elimination. This failure is inexplicable”.

ABC television’s program 20/20 investigated the AKC, which aired on Sept. 23rd, 1994. Their cameras exposed the horrors of US puppy mills and called into question the validity of the entire AKC registry. The lack of rules and safeguards against cheating makes AKC papers completely worthless.

ABC reporter Tom Jarril was told by one former AKC investigator that she examined hundreds of AKC violations wherein dogs were misidentified and claims about them were unsupported by breeders records, but said she could rarely convince her superiors to cancel registrations. Another AKC investigator said that pushing registrations through is a priority at the AKC because it keeps money flowing in.

December 12, 1994

Time Magazine's front cover reads:
"To the dogs - The shame of over breeding", pointing to it’s cover story inside; "A terrible Beauty" by MICHAEL D. LEMONICK, with comments such as:

"The best use of pedigree papers is for housebreaking your dog.
They don’t mean a damn thing." And "You can have an immune-deficient puppy that is about to go blind and has epilepsy, hip dysplasia, hemophilia, and one testicle, and the AKC will register it", and "Form has been separated from function. Style comes in vogue", and "Mass production: Puppy mills like the one that raised these beagles in South Decota are churning out pure-breds wholesale, many of them diseased".

Show dogs need holding-up on both ends

In its April 1995 issue, the US version of "Readers' Digest" in an article "What Have We Done to Man's Best Friend?", joined "20/20" and "Time Magazine" in their condemnation of the AKC.

The CKC's very own "Dogs in Canada" magazine, in an editorial in its Nov. '94 issue bitterly criticizes the CKC by writing: "Of course, the show (20/20) may as well have been talking about the CKC. We have puppy mills, too. And the CKC registers their pups." And "When challenged by those who think the national body dedicated to the 'promotion and protection of purebred dog's should be doing more, the CKC defends itself by saying it is empowered only to be a registry body. However, to quote from the CKC's own appeal for new members, "You will have a voice on major issues facing the world of purebred dogs: elimination of puppy mills, the development of kennel regulations... and the many other issues which present themselves to the purebred dog fancy..." So far, the voice has been pretty quiet." And "Clamping down on the registration system will make it much more difficult for puppy mills and other uncrupulous breeders to operate. 2 months after writing the this editorial, the CKC *replaced* Susan Pearce as editor of its magazine! See also: CKC admits failure

A "must read before" you fall in love with any American bred dog or puppy! The author thoroughly investigated the American dog scene after experiencing a major problem with an "AKC-purebred". Blue-ribbon show dogs and pet-shop puppies usually hide a time bomb of bad breeding, which often results in aggressive behavior, fear biting, unprovoked attacks, law suites, loosing your grand child and being forced to put your beloved puppy to sleep. This book is based on reality and tells it as it is, so that you may be prevented from going into the same traps. Applies to the CKC equally well.

"Absolutely no-one should buy a puppy without first reading THE PUPPY REPORT." A. Hamilton Rowan, former director of Field trials and Hunting Tests - American Kennel Club

"Among the most significant dog books of out times. Read it!" Jim Spencer, Columnist for Gun Dog and the American Kennel Club

"Must reading for anyone considering the purchase of a pooch...Crisp guidelines for obtaining a healthy puppy". The Seattle Times

The Puppy Report by Larry Shook, Hardcover $ 3.99 (US) You can order this book right from here (Amazon.com)

You can find additional recommended books

My American hope

There are a number of independent breed-specific dog clubs operating their own registries in the US today and are not members in the AKC, such as the Australien Shepherd Club of America (ASCA), the U.S. Border Collie Club (USBCC), and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCSC-US). If they would join together and persuade those AKC member clubs that are unhappy with AKC dominance, to join them, they could quite easily form a new national or united "American Dog Society", similar to the VDH in Germany, for the purpose of establishing their own link to the FCI. This would bring America in line with international standards and would enable many new US breed-specific clubs to join and start their own registry and set standards and breed codes as it would benefit their specific breeds under international (FCI) rules. This would also give those US breeds and their clubs full international recognition for the first time in US history. The American public would soon realize the value of a world wide recognized and reliable, and therefore meaningful, American registration certificate and would quickly reward the effort with dollars, as prices for AKC/CKC registered dogs would plummet, which would leave the AKC and CKC in deep ...., where they belong.

Here is a live example of an American puppy mill
See for yourself: visit this web site with up-to-date information and many pictures right now

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