Responding letter from Russ Arend, President of ABBA



	Responding letter from Russ = Arend, President of ABBA

	Mr. Doug Ljungren Director, Performance Events American Kennel Club 5580 Centerview Dr. Raleigh, N.C. 27606-3390 Dear Mr. Ljungren, Thank you for contacting me regarding your proposal that brace clubs amend their constitution as described in your letter. As a result of your letter I have contacted the officers and board of directors of the Americ= an Brace Beagling Association (ABBA). I will try to summarize their responses. You should be aware that a large number of traditional brace beaglers are very skeptial of suggestions made by the AKC. They feel that the AK= C is really not interested in traditional brace beagling. There are many reasons for this lack of rust. I will enumerate a few: 1. The AKC field staff has one brace beagler, yet our part of the s= port represents 40% of all licensed entries in beagle field trials. These non brace beagle field staff will be monitoring brace beagle judges. 2. The brace beagle clubs own the vast majority of land owned by be= agle clubs. Yet they are asked to make concessions to people who played little or no role in acquiring, financing, developing, and stocking the c= lub grounds. Just because the gun dog people do not own land, doesn't m= ean they can have ours. 3. The brace people have always been represented by the Beagle Advi= sory Committee. Yet, this committee was not consulted or briefed on the = so called Bagaley proposal for at least three years and then only after non-BAC-beaglers learned of the problem and confronted the AKC. We do not feel that SPO and traditional brace dogs can run in the same enclosures. Most brace clubs have thirty or forty acres of land with mowed paths and an abundance of rabbits. These rabbits are not over= ly frightened and do not seem to feel that they are running to save their life. When we have tried to run SPO dogs in these areas they go wil= d, sight chasing and in many instances catching and killing the rabbits.&nbs= p; The SPO beaglers prefer few mowed paths and not too many rabbits. T= his is the opposite of what the brace beaglers prefer. We do not understand why the AKC would upset hundreds of brace beaglers a= nd cause major distress throughout the country by making such a suggestion. I am sure the AKC would not agree to give up their asse= ts to another registry even though you both register dogs. It is our opinion that trying to get brace clubs to follow your suggestio= n at this time will have the same effect as pouring gasoline on a fire. = We are not trying to be negative, but to point out the reality of the current situation. As you know, timing is very important in making change a= nd this is not the time for this proposal. Again, thank you for asking for our input an we look forward to working w= ith the AKC in the furture. Sincerely, Russ Arend President Enclosures - emails - Bob Kimber, Richard Bauman