Page 148 - ShowSight - July 2019
P. 148

                AKC Legislative Conference
BY SUSAN B. THIBODEAUX continued
 the USA in a year’s period. As we’ve seen, rabies, brucellosis, canine influenza, leptospirosis and other diseases have been brought into the United States, and often the dogs are not tracked and have fraudulent paperwork.
The second day was concluded with an AKC reception for members of Congress and their staffs. It only took a minute to see that many of their staff and interns are less than 30-years-old and on very limited budgets. Offering food and drink, along with the chance to meet cute, friendly show dogs, resulted in quite a large crowd. Nearly 350 people attended, and the other conference attendees and I went from group to group explaining why it’s important to keep breeders of purposely bred pure- bred dogs at the table and in the conversation when considering legislation concerning dogs. Of course, I showed them cute Toy Fox and Toy Manchester Terrier photos and videos as well and discovered what dogs they have. They love dogs!
So what can you do?
Be a part of the AKC army. AKC is a club of clubs. You are probably in one or more of those clubs.
Visit your local offices of your federal and state lawmakers. Take them cookies and pictures of your dogs. Explain who you are and how anti-dog legis- lation would affect you. Give them your personal story. The animal rights groups have painted bad pictures of us that are false; show your state and federal representatives the authentic you.
Explain your participation in your breed res- cues. Discuss how your clubs and members con- tribute in so many ways to the community; enu- merate and list your good works. Give them your local club’s list and include on it all that you do on behalf of ALL dogs.
Share this list with lawmakers, media, colleges, churches, pet professionals and veterinarians in your area. Make friends with your local law enforc- ers. Use positive messaging to raise your club’s pro- file but discourage breeder bashing. We can’t eat our own in this fight. Be respectful in discussions so they hear what you say.
Seek seats on animal advisory boards and com- mittees. Don’t let the other side completely take all the seats to provide the expert advice to the govern- ment groups. We can’t wait for a bill to come out. Get them familiar with you now!
Offer your clubs’ members’ hundreds of years combined experience training, breeding and work- ing with dogs to help them when dog issues arise. Quantify it: You are the experts! Diane, Judy and I added ours up and told the folks we met with that combined we three had almost 120 years of experi- ence in training, breeding, showing and instruct- ing. Add your club’s experience up and share that.
Don’t let the other side take that role because you hid in silence. If you hear of an ordinance or legislation in your area quickly advise AKC GR. The staff in GR are few, we breeders, exhibitors and club members are many—we cover the country.
Please consider donating to NAIA and the AKC PAC. The AR groups are spending enormous
The bus ride back to the hotel. We walked quite a bit—we were happy to see the bus!
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