The AKC: How Does It Work?
by Art Boger
Many people who own
purebred dogs registered by the American Kennel Club don't seem to
know much about what the AKC is or does other than send them
a registration certificate for their
pet.
It has been my experience
that beaglers know much more about the AKC than the
average
purebred dog owner, but still don't completely understand
how the total organization functions.
If you look at the official AKC website you will
find a statement that says that the AKC is "a club of
clubs." This means that the American Kennel Club
is comprised of a group of clubs who have
chosen to be members of this group of clubs. Each
member club represents a group of people who
own a specific breed of dog recognized by AKC. Let's say
that there are 350 different breeds of
dogs recognized by AKC. If each one of those breeds
had one club, then there could be 350 clubs
who were members of AKC. That is not the case however,
since there are breed clubs for each
breed scattered across the country. Not only are there
many clubs for certain breeds, but there are
clubs for the same breed who involve their pets in different
activities such as conformation shows
and/or field events. Hence, different clubs for
Beagles as well as other breeds.
Historically, every
purebred dog club is not recognized automatically as a "member club"
of AKC.
Dogs owned by members of non-member clubs can still be
registered by AKC and participate in
activities licensed by AKC.
So for our sport of traditional brace beagling, although there are over 300 different beagle
clubs
sponsoring many field trials licensed by AKC; there are only
13 "member clubs" recognized by AKC.
The member clubs are:
1. Buckeye
2. Central
3. Empire
4. National
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Pocono
10. Sportsman
11.
12. Western
13. Wolverine
At this point, you may
be saying to yourself, "So what?" Why should I be interested in
any of this
organizational stuff? The answer to that question is that some people are
trying to do
away with beagling as you know it and they not only understand how
they can do it, but have been
actively
working for some time now to not only discredit your sport but to force you to
change or
leave
the AKC as a governing body. How can they do that? Do these people
work for AKC?
First, these people do
not work for AKC! Then how can they be in a position to do away with
traditional brace beagling?
It's all about AKC being a club of clubs. Let's say that there are
approximately 500 member clubs that make up AKC.
There's a retriever club from
standard poodle club from
member clubs has the right to elect from their membership a
person who may serve as a delegate
from that club and join other delegates from across the
country in a delegates meeting four times
per year to conduct the business of the AKC. Two of
these meetings take place in
and the remaining two take place in different cities across
the country. At these meetings the
delegates receive reports concerning such things as the
finances of AKC, results of different AKC
events, etc. Also, delegates may introduce a proposal
to make changes in AKC activities. Motions
may be made from the floor on certain matters, votes taken,
etc.
So now you understand
that the AKC (the club of clubs) is a group of clubs, who meet four times
a year, with each member club represented by a delegate who
has the right to vote in the delegates
assembly, and that beagle clubs who hold field trials can be
represented by a delegate from each of
the 13 member clubs.
Next, you need to
understand that the delegates representing all these different breeds and
activities nominate and elect from their membership other
important groups. First, they nominate
and elect a Board of Directors. This board actually
elects and hires the President of the American
Kennel Club. The President in turn hires his/her staff
of Vice Presidents and they in turn hire the
remainder of the staff of AKC. So the President of AKC
meets with the Board of Directors (all of
whom are delegates from member clubs) every month. He
or she must answer to the Board of
Directors and since they hired him/her they can dismiss
him/her. The organization of the American
Kennel Club then consists of two entities - the delegates assembly who elects the Board of Directors
who then hire a President of AKC who administers the staff
as it performs its daily functions. The
true power of the American Kennel Club rests with the Board
of Directors of the delegates assembly.
The last thing you
need to understand is that the delegates assembly not
only elects the Board
of Directors, but also have established a group of Delegates
Standing Committees. These
committees are called:
1. Coordinating
2. All-Breed
Clubs
3. Bylaws
4. Canine
Health
5. Dog Show
Rules
6. Field Trial
- Hunting Test Events
7. Herding - Earthdog - Coursing Events
8. Obedience -
Tracking - Agility
9. Parent Clubs
10. Perspectives Editorial Staff
11. Delegate Advocacy and Advancement
The committee called
Field Trial - Hunting Test Events has eleven members who first had to be
representing a member club as a delegate and then had to be
nominated and elected by the
Delegates Assembly to serve on this committee. The
members of this committee meet four times a
year at the same time that all the delegates meet.
They discuss field trials and hunting tests for all
breeds involved in such activities. They communicate
with one another via mail and a newsletter
between meetings and to inform the remainder of the
delegates about the business being conducted
by the committee. It was through articles written in
this newsletter by one of its members, that
traditional brace beaglers were
informed that this person and the Chairman of this committee are
proposing that traditional brace field trials be terminated
in a few years and that instead of the AKC
awarding Field Champion titles to our dogs that they be
recognized as dogs competing in tracking
events.
Many beaglers responded to this news by communicating with the
AKC staff and accusing them
of being the culprit. The AKC staff does not tell the
delegates what to think and say. The delegates
through their assembly, committees, and Board of Directors
tell the AKC staff what to do. So don't
focus your energy on the AKC field representatives or for
that matter on the Vice President for Field
Events. The proposal to stop traditional brace field
trials didn't come from the AKC staff, it came
from a delegate of one of the 13 member clubs representing
beagle field trial clubs.
From this time forward
you can use this website to stay informed about what is being done to
continue to work within the organization established the
AKC. Also, you should seek information
about the work of the Board of Directors and the Field Trial
- Hunting Test Committee on the official
AKC website.
Art Boger