Every year the AKC Canine Legislation Department attends two legislative conferences to meet with legislators and their staff and educate them about issues important to dog owners. The conferences allow staff to highlight the legislative and public education materials that AKC provides, as well as establishing the American Kennel Club as the primary resource for legislators on canine legislative issues.

In August, Manager Sarah Sprouse and Research Coordinator Melissa Allcox attended the National Conference of State Legislatures in Nashville, Tennessee. Approximately 20% of state legislators from around the country attend this event. The AKC Canine Legislation Department also journeyed to Chicago, Illinois to attend the National Association of Counties Annual Meeting. Over the course of three days AKC staff met with more than 3,500 county officials and staff members. 

Due to the increase in breed-specific proposals this year we choose to focus our efforts on educating legislators about BSL. AKC debuted our new “Deed Not Breed” poster which is a larger version of the flyer prepared earlier in the year in conjunction with the AKC Public Education Department. These flyers are available to download on the AKC website or by contacting the Canine Legislation Department at doglaw@akc.org.  In a further effort to educate legislators about breed-specific legislation, AKC provided leashes inscribed with the “Deed Not Breed” motto. Distributing leashes helped establish conversation about the ineffectiveness of breed-specific legislation and policy leaders then take this message back to their community.

Elected officials were also provided with a variety of public education materials on responsible dog ownership and legislative materials such as our Dangerous Dog Packet, Preventing Breeding Restrictions Packet and Animal Limit Laws: Better Alternatives, to help local government officials enact effective and enforceable ordinances. To obtain copies of legislative materials for your local elected officials, please contact the Canine Legislation Department at doglaw@akc.org.