June 4, 2019 Two bills pertaining to pet shops will be considered by Rhode Island General Assembly committees this week. House Bill 5072, scheduled for hearing on Wednesday, seeks to unreasonably restrict pet shops to selling only dogs sourced from shelters and rescues. Senate Bill 699, scheduled for hearing Thursday, establishes reasonable operational standards for […]

The Alabama House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider a bill tomorrow (Wednesday, April 26) that would allow a private citizen to forcibly enter a vehicle if they believe a person or pet in the vehicle is in danger. Alabama citizens are encouraged to contact the committee prior to the meeting tomorrow to respectfully express […]

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) recently published proposed amendments to the regulations that carry out the state’s Animal Welfare Act.  These regulations would apply to all state licensed breeders, which in current law is anyone who raises and sells dogs they have bred, and have more than five females “capable of reproduction.” The proposed […]

The San Antonio City Council is expected to consider a new animal ordinance that seeks to further limit breeding and restrict pet stores to sourcing dogs and cats only from an animal rescue organization, an animal control agency, or a county animal shelter licensed by the city. Currently, Sec. 5-106 of the city’s ordinances requires […]

This week, the House Judiciary Committee is accepting testimony on multiple bills.  Text of bills are embedded in the links.  AKC Government Relations (AKC GR) strongly encourages Rhode Island residents to take action as follows: Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at the rise of the House: DOGS OUTSIDE AND UNATTENDED - H. 5736 would amend the […]

AKC Reunite and The Theriogenology Foundation Join Forces to Solve U.S. Detection Dog Shortage Organizations Help Launch the Working Dog Project at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to Improve Breeding of Military and Service Dogs The need for explosive detection dogs and assistance dogs has never been greater. Unfortunately, only half of the […]

  Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) today released a "Discussion Draft" of an amended version of S. 1139, the "Pet Animal Welfare Statute of 2005" (PAWS). The Discussion Draft includes language clarifying several original provisions and adds some new provisions which resulted from input following a November 2005 hearing on the […]

To celebrate the dogs who do extraordinary things in the service of humankind, the AKC Humane Fund is seeking YOUR nominations for its AKC Humane Fund Awards for Canine Excellence (ACE).  Nominations are now open and winners will be announced in fall 2017.   Each year, the AKC Humane Fund pays tribute to five dedicated, hardworking […]

Come Meet All 167 AKC Breeds at www.meetthebreeds.com From George Washington’s Foxhounds to Thomas Jefferson’s Briards, purebred pups are as all-American as apple pie.  To celebrate the Fourth of July and the New York City return of Meet the Breeds™ – the world’s largest gathering of dogs and cats – the American Kennel Club® (AKC®) […]

Today, five-year-old English Springer Spaniel Pride ‘N Joy’s Juno-Lupa, better known as "Juno," and her handler Beckie Stanevich, AKC Delegate for the Mountaineer Kennel Club, became the first dog and handler team to receive the new American Kennel Club Urban Search and Rescue (SAR) title. The pair, which serves on FEMA’s Ohio Task Force One […]