New World Screwworm (nationwide) – As of this writing, 48 cases of New World Screwworm (NWS, or screwworm) have been detected since the first American case was identified on June 3, 2026. NWS is a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow into the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, typically through an open wound. Typically, painful wounds and serious infections result [...]

New World Screwworm (nationwide) – As of this writing, 45 cases of New World Screwworm (NWS, or screwworm) have been detected since the first American case was identified on June 3, 2026. NWS is a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow into the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, typically through an open wound. Typically, painful wounds and serious infections result [...]

New World Screwworm (nationwide) – As of this writing, 32 cases of New World Screwworm (NWS, or screwworm) have been detected since the first American case was identified on June 3, 2026. NWS is a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow into the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, typically through an open wound. Typically, painful wounds and serious infections result [...]

U.S. Federal/Regulations – On February 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Request for Information, noting that scientific advances, new information, and new concepts regarding the care and handling of dogs made it appropriate for the agency to seek scientific information and comment from the public on Standards for the Care of Breeding [...]

U.S. Federal/Regulations – On February 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Request for Information, noting that scientific advances, new information, and new concepts regarding the care and handling of dogs made it appropriate for the agency to seek scientific information and comment from the public on Standards for the Care of Breeding [...]

U.S. Federal/Regulations – On February 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Request for Information,  noting that scientific advances, new information and new concepts regarding the care and handling of dogs make it appropriate for the agency to seek scientific information and comment  from the public on Standards for the Care of Breeding [...]

U.S. Federal/Regulations – On February 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Request for Information,  noting that scientific advances, new information and new concepts regarding the care and handling of dogs make it appropriate for the agency to seek scientific information and comment  from the public on Standards for the Care of Breeding [...]

U.S. Federal/Regulations – On February 17, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released a Request for Information,  noting that scientific advances, new information and new concepts regarding the care and handling of dogs make it appropriate for the agency to seek scientific information and comment  from the public on Standards for the Care of Breeding [...]

Earlier this week, the Palm Beach County, Florida, Board of Commissioners postponed further consideration of extensive changes to its animal control ordinance, which included negative impacts on hobby breeders.   Click here to learn more about the Palm Beach County proposal.   During Tuesday’s hearing, county staff described the main goal of the proposed [...]

Proposed updates to Palm Beach County’s Animal Care and Control Ordinance and fee schedule would expand breeder regulations; add new rules for hobby breeders, exhibitors, and people who own unaltered dogs or cats; and increase the cost of a hobby breeder permit by 166.7%. The American Kennel Club (AKC) is concerned that these changes could [...]

The Oregon Secretary of State announced that after the signature verification process, radical animal rights proposal IP 28 officially failed to qualify for the November 2026 ballot. All told, the proponents of IP 28 submitted 104,262 valid signatures against the 117,163 signatures that were needed to qualify the proposal for the November ballot.   This extreme proposal would have banned [...]

Animal rights activists continue to collect signatures in Oregon in advance of a July 2 deadline to qualify an extreme measure (currently referred to as Oregon Initiative Petition 28) for the November 2026 ballot that would ban hunting, criminalize dog breeding (including artificial insemination), end recognized training practices, and significantly harm agriculture. AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) continues [...]

Animal rights activists continue to collect signatures in Oregon to put an extreme measure on the November 2026 ballot to ban all hunting, criminalize certain dog breeding (including artificial insemination) and recognized training practices, and even significantly impact farmers, ranchers and fishermen. Oregonians should not sign this petition for Initiative Petition 28 (IP 28), even though it is [...]

An Illinois bill seeking in part to impose commercial standards on some home-based kennels and breeding programs has been pulled from consideration and will likely not move forward during the spring session. As mentioned in previous alerts, the “one size fits all” standards in Senate Bill 2990 are geared toward large commercial facilities and fail to [...]

This is the last week for the Illinois Senate to vote on Senate bills and send them to the House of Representatives.  Among the bills expected to be considered is one that will impose a number of new requirements on anyone who is licensed as a dog breeder in the state – which could include imposing [...]

A Tennessee bill that would have created a statewide dangerous dog registry has been tabled by lawmakers, effectively halting its progress for the current legislative cycle. Senate Bill 1794 It has been taken into consideration as part of broader discussions around public safety and animal control measures. Tabling typically means that lawmakers have chosen to set [...]

Today, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) announced that it is extending the period for comments about potential updates to its dog welfare regulations.  The original comment period was to end today, Thursday, March 19th.  The comment period will now end on Thursday, April 20, 2026. APHIS is [...]

Animal rights activists continue gathering signatures in Oregon to put an extreme measure on the November 2026 ballot that would criminalize the killing and breeding of animals. This initiative has been attempted in previous election cycles, although it has never qualified for the ballot. The campaign in favor of the initiative reports having collected 87,776 of the [...]

This article originally appeared in the award-winning AKC Family Dog magazine. Subscribe now! One of the highlights of 2025 for Michelle Starr was the Pismo Beach Corgi Nation Vacation. She drove three hours from her Carmel, California home with her two Pembroke Welsh Corgis, Bailey and Blue, to join her best friend and her Cardigan Welsh [...]

For six years, Tibetan Spaniel 'Tashi' has been a regular at AKC Meet the Breeds NYC. But a sudden injury almost prevented him from returning.