American Kennel Club - The Dog's Champion

Legislative Information and Updates from the AKC

A Publication of the AKC Government Relations Department

May 2017

What’s New from AKC Government Relations

This past month has been a very exciting and busy time for the GR team.

Legislative liaisons, leaders, and advocates from across the country traveled to Alexandria, VA, and Washington, DC, for our second regional legislative conference of the year. This successful event coincided with National Purebred Dog Day, which was celebrated on May 1st at the Capitol Visitor’s Center. Members of Congress, staff, and guests had the opportunity to meet a number of purebred dogs, including Rumor, the German Shepherd Dog that won both Westminster and the AKC National Championship.

USDA Releases Updated Animal Welfare Act Regulations Booklet

The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA/APHIS) recently posted an updated version of its Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations booklet. The new version contains regulatory changes implemented since November 2013, including the “Retail Pet Store Rule” and “Importation of Live Dogs Rule.”

United States Capitol Police K-9 Unit Receives AKC K-9 Award

The American Kennel Club presented the United States Capitol Police K-9 Unit with the AKC K-9 Officers Award on May 1. The award recognizes the special public service role of dogs that work for government agencies, and the skills and partnerships the K-9 handlers have with their dogs.

AKC Hosts Spring Legislative Conference in Washington/DC/Mid-Atlantic Region

Approximately 40 legislative liaisons, federation leaders, and dog owners and advocates from across the country travelled to Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington DC this past weekend to attend the AKC Government Relations team’s second regional legislative conference of the year.

Rumor Takes the Capitol By Storm

On the afternoon of May 1, “Rumor” (Grand Champion Lockenhaus' Rumor Has It V Kenlyn), the German Shepherd Dog who took Best in Show honors at both the 2017 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and the 2015 AKC National Championship took a grand tour of the U.S. Capitol to raise awareness of purebred dogs and National Purebred Dog Day.

NPDD: Reception Brings Together Top Dogs & Members of Congress

Last week, members of Congress and their staff got to meet many new friends. At a reception hosted by the American Kennel Club in honor of National Purebred Dog Day, members of Congress, staff and guests celebrated the many positive aspects of purebred dogs and the human-canine bond.

The AKC Government Relations team mourns the loss of
Peggy Wampold.

Peggy was a tremendous role model in her dedication and zeal for public outreach, regularly meeting with her legislators, and always staying on top of public policies and legislation that could impact dogs. She will be sadly missed by her friends at the AKC GR team and by all who knew her. We thank Laurie Maulucci of the Connecticut Dog Federation for sharing this moving memorial.

Why Californians Need to Worry About AB 485, the “Pet Store” Bill

As recent history has shown, many anti-breeder animal rights extremists continuously advocate for incremental breeding and sales restrictions that they hope will eventually lead to outright bans on all animal breeding and ownership. They collectively consider all breeders and pet stores as substandard and inherently not interested in practicing or promoting animal welfare.

Government Relations Staff Changes

As part of an ongoing restructuring of the AKC Government Relations Department designed to better partner with you in impacting canine legislation and public policy, we are pleased to share updates about GR staff.

Legislative Information and Updates

Thirty-seven states, Congress, and Puerto Rico are in session, and two states are in a special legislative session. AKC Government Relations is currently tracking more than 1,700 bills on the federal, state, and local levels. Here are some highlights of pending canine legislation issues across the country.

Visit the 2017 Legislation Tracking page for the most up-to-date information on state and federal legislation. This site, updated each weekday, provides the latest bill text, status, and links to legislative alerts posted by the AKC. Click on the links below to view highlights of issues that are being tracked by AKC Government Relations:

Federal — issues that may affect all dog owners in the U.S.
State — issues specific to your state
Local/Other — issues at the city, county, and metropolitan levels, and in U.S. territories

Please contact AKC GR at (919) 816-3720 or doglaw@akc.org for more information or to let us know what’s happening in your local community.

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