10/28/2024
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL BASSET HOUND LOVERS AND ALL AKC BREEDERS OF MERIT IN THE UNITED STATES:
According to the American Kennel Club email I received today —
The City Council of a rather small city of Ojai, California on October 22, voted 4-1 to adopt a first in the nation law that prohibits the breeding of dogs and cats with “congenital anatomical features” that are likely to cause the animal or its offspring to suffer pain, deformity, or difficult expressing natural behaviors, difficulty breathing, difficultly with physical exertion or exercise, or difficulty breeding. It provides no exceptions. Read on because this also includes basset hounds.
The City Council also voted unanimously to amend Ojai’s mandatory spay?neuter law by eliminating exceptions for (1) dogs that compete in or are in training for American Kennel Club (AKC) events and (2) dogs that are owned by AKC Breeders of Merit.
Both ordinances take effect 30 days after passage.
The first ordinance does not mention any specific breeds but for those of us who love basset hounds the Administrative Report that accompanies this new ordinance does. According to an email from AKC it, “ included a list of breeds with short limbs that it claimed, without scientific evidence, are prone to cartilage defects, joint disease, and a predisposition to spinal problems: Basset Hounds, Beagles, Dachshunds, Dandie Dinmont Terriers, Pembroke Welsh Corgis, and Scottish Terriers.
Folks, this is a direct and unfounded attack on our breed. There is no medical, scientific or other data or studies behind this attack and no allowance for exceptions or disputing the oridnence.
In the email I received the AKC stated, “Respectfully, AKC views Ojai’s latest anti-breeding ordinances as (1) unsubstantiated, uninformed, and difficult-to-enforce extremist targeting of breeds, breed characteristics, and responsible purebred dog breeders that is primarily intended to gain media attention and notoriety; (2) a failure of contributing anything of positive consequence for dogs or the ongoing efforts by purebred dog fanciers and veterinary researchers to use science-based approaches to further improve animal health; and (3) ineffective in addressing the issues of shelter populations that are commonly understood to be caused by socioeconomic factors, veterinary care costs, and the return of shelter pets acquired during the Covid-19 pandemic, not by responsible purebred dog breeders who compete in AKC events.”
It’s very obvious that Animal Rights and anti-breeding groups are behind these ordinances. They’re now attacking the AKC directly by eliminating the former exceptions for AKC participants and Breeders of Merit. While this is currently the only city in the United States it won’t be long before Animal Rights groups start working on getting these ordinances passed in other areas. If we want our breed as well as other AKC breeds to continue we all need to be more vigilant about what’s happening with dog legislation where we live.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) has a Government Relations Department with an email newsletter that’s available. That’s how I found out about this new threat to our dogs. The AKC Government Relations Department can be found at:
The AKC Government Relations Department (GR) is dedicated to protecting the rights of all dog owners, promoting responsible dog ownership and ensuring that laws governing dog ownership and breeding are reasonable, enforceable and non-discriminatory. The Government Relations department leads the AKC....
