Representative John Heaton's office has confirmed that HB 667 will be amended to remove the breed-specific provisions. The AKC Government Relations department thanks all those who called, wrote letters, and emailed their representatives about this important issue. We will provide additional information once the amended text is available.   Rottweilers and Pit Bulls Targeted in […]

A bill labeling "pit bulls" and Rottweilers as "dangerous dogs" has been introduced in the New Mexico House of Representatives.  Under current New Mexico statute, any owner of a dog deemed to be "dangerous" must be spayed or neutered, microchipped and registered each year. Under House Bill 667, the definition of "dangerous dog" is expanded […]

The New Hampshire House Environment and Agriculture Committee is scheduled to hear House Bill 337 on Wednesday, February 11. This measure would prevent any dog owner from selling more than one dog or cat per year without a temporary license, which expires after 60 days. The AKC urges all responsible dog owners, fanciers, and breeders […]

Late Wednesday, the Colorado House Agriculture Committee voted to table indefinitely House Bill 1172, which sought to strictly regulate dog breeders. HB 1172 would have: limited the number of dogs a person could own to 25, provided the Commissioner of Agriculture with extraordinary rulemaking powers, and have infringed upon privacy rights by allowing inspections of […]

Responsible dog owners won a decisive victory Thursday afternoon when the Montana House Local Government Committee voted 17-1 against a bill to ban "pit bulls" in the state. House Bill 191 prohibited the ownership, harboring, or keeping of dogs described as "pit bulls".  "Pit bulls" was defined to include Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, […]

Over 100 concerned dog and cat owners attended yesterday’s hearing in Riverside County and convinced the Board of Supervisors to accept amendments to the proposed spay/neuter and mandatory microchipping ordinance. Although the ideal outcome would have been the defeat of this ordinance and to focus efforts on responsible animal owner education programs and stronger enforcement […]

Our pack is getting bigger and bigger! The American Kennel Club has given four additional breeds AKC recognition, bringing the total number of recognized breeds to 184.Allow us to introduce you to:Cirneco dell’EtnaThe Cirneco dell’Etna hails from Italy and joins the Hound group. The Cirneco is a hunter that works by scent, sight, and hearing. The breed has […]

Anyone who follows Miley Cyrus on Twitter or Instagram knows the singer adores her dogs. In fact, the recent death of one of them, an Alaskan Klee Kai named Floyd, broke the young celebrity’s heart so much that a bulk of her social media posts were dedicated to him. (Floyd was also memorialized with a concert tribute, a shrine, […]

[Thursday, October 23, 2008] Today the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government decided to send House Bill 5092 to “study,” which effectively ends the consideration of this onerous bill for the remainder of the current legislative session.  (For more information on HB 5092, click here.) In addition to the over 200 concerned […]

Massachusetts House Bill 5092, a bill featuring many anti-responsible dog breeder and owner provisions, will be heard by the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government on Thursday, October 23rd, at 10:00 AM, in Room A-2 of the State House in Boston.  The AKC encourages all concerned dog breeders and owners in Massachusetts to attend […]

Massachusetts House Bill 5092 has been referred to the Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, and is tentatively scheduled for public hearing on Thursday, October 23rd, at 10 AM in Room A2 of the State House in Boston.  The bill includes many extreme provisions that, if enacted, will prove devastating to responsible dog breeders […]

The Puppy Uniform Protection Statute (PUPS) has been concurrently introduced in the US House of Representatives last week as H.R. 6949 and in the Senate as S.3519. The legislation will require that any breeder who sells more than 50 dogs per year direct to the public through internet sales or other outlets be inspected and […]

Yesterday, a vote by the Chicago City Council's Finance Committee, in consideration of a proposed mandatory spay/neuter ordinance, was put off by committee chairman Alderman Ed Burke.  After several hours of testimony, Alderman Burke delayed a vote to allow more testimony to be heard.  No new hearing date has been set. AKC's Government Relations Department […]

The Chicago City Council Committee on Finance will hold a joint hearing with the Committee on License and Consumer Protection on Tuesday July 29th to discuss a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance. It is vital that responsible dog owners and breeders attend the hearing to oppose this measure.   AKC Opposes Proposed Mandatory Spay and Neuter Ordinance […]

On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council voted 10-3 in favor of changing Dallas' animal ordinance.  Effective on Tuesday, July 1st, the ordinance requires the sterilization of all dogs, unless owners purchase an annual $70 breeder permit to keep each dog intact.  Additionally, the ordinance establishes a limit on the number of pets owned to six […]

The American Kennel Club Government Relations Department is pleased to report that California Assembly Bill 1634, which formerly attempted to impose the mandatory spay/neuter of all dogs six months of age or older with little exception, has been vastly amended.  Now entitled "Dog and cats: nonspayed or unneutered: civil penalties.", this is an entirely new […]

AKC's Government Relations Department is pleased to report that New York Assembly Bill 11509 will not be considered by the Assembly Agriculture Committee for the remainder of the 2008 legislative session. This was confirmed today by the office of Assemblyman William Magee, chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee. The Government Relations Department would like to […]

The American Kennel Club® is pleased to announce the promotion of Doug Ljungren to Assistant Vice President of Performance Events. Doug joined the AKC as Director of Performance Events in March 2007. He has been responsible for all facets of AKC Field Trials, Hunting Tests, Herding, Lure Coursing and Earthdog Events since taking over for […]

Minnesota House File 3245, sponsored by Representative Dennis Ozment, seeks to lift the state's current prohibition on breed-specific legislation. If passed and signed into law, the changes imposed by this bill would have a profound impact on all dog owners in Minnesota. It is imperative that all dog owners and breeders in Minnesota contact the […]

On Friday February 8th, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to take a final vote on a proposed mandatory spay/neuter ordinance. Last week, the City Council voted 10-1 in favor of the ordinance, with only Councilmember Bill Rosendahl standing up for responsible owners and breeders. At the previous meeting, concerned dog owners were outnumbered […]

Arizona House Bill 2516 has been assigned to three legislative committees: the House Committee on Counties, Municipalities, and Military Affairs; the House Committee on Government; and the House Committee on Rules. The bill, which seeks to prohibit persons from owning or keeping a dog or cat that is more than six months old if the […]

  The American Kennel Club® announced recently that the Detroit Kennel Club (DKC) has been named a recipient of the AKC® Community Achievement Award for using its annual dog show as a golden opportunity for public education on a grand scale. The DKC received one of three awards for the third quarter of 2007- Joseph […]

Late Friday the US Senate passed their version of the 2007 Farm Bill. Below is a summary of provisions affecting dogs. Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) has announced that his amendment to the Senate Farm Bill to protect the health of puppies imported into the United States has been accepted. The measure will require that […]

The San Antonio City Council will decide on proposed major revisions to its animal ordinance at the Thursday, December 13th, “A Session” meeting.  Public comment will be accepted at this hearing prior to the council’s vote.  It is imperative that all concerned San Antonio-area breeders and owners strongly voice their opposition to this proposal. The […]

As the year comes to a close I’d like to review what the AKC has accomplished. The Board and Staff have worked diligently to ensure the continued success of our club and the sport. The Fancy has played a major role in our success. They were effective in defeating the proposed mandatory spay and neuter […]

The American Kennel Club has been advocating for purebred dog owners since our founding in 1884. Yet in 1990 we stepped up our efforts in the political arena with the formation of the Canine Legislation department. Now the time has come again for AKC to further enhance our role in protecting owners' and breeders' rights. […]

The American Kennel Club has been advocating for purebred dog owners since our founding in 1884. Yet in 1990 we stepped up our efforts in the political arena with the formation of the Canine Legislation department. Now the time has come again for AKC to further enhance our role in protecting owners' and breeders' rights. […]

The American Kennel Club (AKC) and our Texas federation of owners, the Responsible Pet Owners Alliance (RPOA), remain deeply concerned with the proposed changes to San Antonio's animal ordinance. The proposed ordinance is unreasonable, unenforceable, and unfairly penalizes responsible dog breeders and owners. For example, if adopted, the new law will impose many burdensome restrictions, […]

It is sometimes beneficial in both our personal and our professional lives to step back and take a longer perspective of what we have achieved and what we seek. Our natural inclination is to focus on just today and tomorrow. Today I want to share with you some longer range evaluation of just how AKC […]

The American Kennel Club announced today the winners of the seventh AKC Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE), the award designed to commemorate loyal, hard-working dogs that have made significant contributions to their community. The ACE is given annually to dogs in each of the following five categories: Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Therapy, Service and […]