New York State Assembly Bill 7218 seeks to make the docking of tails unlawful. The American Kennel Club (AKC) and the Responsible Dog Owners Association of New York both vehemently oppose AB 7218. This bill has been referred to the New York Assembly Agriculture Committee.  It is imperative that ALL concerned dog breeders and owners contact […]

California Senate Bill 250 has been amended and set for a hearing in the Senate Local Government Committee for April 15th. We need all California fanciers, responsible dog owners and breeders, and clubs to write and oppose this legislation. Letters must be received by April 8 to be reflected on the committee analysis. SB 250's […]

Two Florida Senate bills that are of great concern to the American Kennel Club (AKC) are scheduled for consideration by Senate committees on Monday, April 6th. The AKC and the Florida Association of Kennel Clubs urge all Floridians to take action on these bills. Senate Bill 2002 Florida Senate Bill 2002, sponsored by Senator Lee […]

The City of Holly Hill, Florida, is trying for the second time this year to pass a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance for the small community.  The ordinance would require all dog owners to have their dog or cat spayed or neutered by six months of age, with few exceptions. In February 2009, the City Commission rejected […]

The Indiana General Assembly will hear two bills on Tuesday regarding breeding regulations in Indiana. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to hear Senate Bill 238, a bill originally dealing with basic animal cruelty issues. An amendment will be offered in this bill to strictly regulate commercial breeders in Indiana. The Senate Corrections, Criminal, and […]

Oregon House Bill 2470, which seeks to severely limit the responsible breeding of dogs, will be heard by the Oregon House Consumer Protection Committee on Monday, March 30.  The American Kennel Club and its Oregon federation, the National Animal Interest Alliance, both strongly oppose HB 2470, and encourage all concerned responsible dog breeders and owners […]

This morning, the Florida House Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Committee adopted a "strike-all" amendment to House Bill 451, which would have required the mandatory spay/neuter of all dogs four months of age with little exception.  The Florida Association of Kennel Clubs reports that the amendment, offered by HB 451’s sponsor, Representative Scott Randolph, has […]

On Thursday, March 19, the Montana House Judiciary Committee will hear a bill to expand the definition of animal cruelty.  The American Kennel Club urges all responsible dog owners, fanciers, and breeders to contact the Montana Senate and express their opposition to Senate Bill 221, which would expand the definition of animal cruelty to include […]

SB 139 which sought to ban cropping and docking in Illinois, has been amended to remove all substantive language from the bill. It now simply exists as a placeholder or "shell", should the sponsor choose to revisit the issue later in session.  AKC will continue to monitor this legislation and will update our website if new language […]

West Virginia House Bill 2843, sponsored by Delegates Daniel Poling of Wood, Virginia Mahan of Summers, Nancy Guthrie of Kanawha, Roy Givens of Brooke, and Tom Azinger of Wood, seeks to define commercial dog breeders and to impose limits on the ownership of dogs.  Similar to many bills introduced in legislatures across the country in […]

A bill has been introduced in the Arkansas Senate that requires owners of 12 or more dogs of any age to purchase an annual license for the right to maintain ownership of the dogs, regardless of whether the animals are on your property.  "Owner" is defined as someone who meets any of the following criteria: […]

Oregon Representative Vicki Berger has introduced legislation that would require "pit bull" owners to maintain $1 million in insurance coverage. It is important that all responsible dog owners, fanciers, and breeders contact the bill’s sponsor and members of the House Consumer Protection Committee and oppose House Bill 2852. House Bill 2852 would require owners of "pit […]

Alderman Burke has postponed a vote on the proposed mandatory spay/neuter ordinance. Over 130 people signed up to address the committee about the issue and several aldermen questioned whether this was an effective and economical policy for the city to pursue. AKC thanks the many breeders and responsible owners who attended the meeting as well […]

California State Senator Dean Florez has introduced Senate Bill 250, a measure that purports to reduce shelter populations, but would in reality make it easier to revoke licenses for intact dogs and cats in California. This legislation will not improve the lives of cats and dogs, will negatively impact responsible owners and breeders, and by […]

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 […]

[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 […]

  -- Lee Arnold, Carl C. Ashby, III, Alan Kalter, and Dr. Robert D. Smith Elected -- The Annual Meeting of the AKC Delegates took place on March 10, 2009. Four new Directors have been elected: Lee Arnold, Delegate from the Southern Colorado Kennel Club; Carl C. Ashby, III, Delegate from the United States Kerry Blue […]

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, […]