A Humane World

The American Kennel Club turns 140 years old this week. Its tagline is “For the love of all things dog.” Nothing could be more misleading. Although it tries to pass itself off in the U.S. Congress and elsewhere as an authority on animal welfare, the organization is a breed registry for purebred dogs, one that has actively come to resist progress for animal welfare. Over the last few decades, the AKC has become little more than a front for the puppy mill industry, one that serves the interests of large-scale mass breeders while charging them for the AKC’s certifications of pedigree and litter registrations. Despite its widespread name recognition as an animal organization, the AKC is not in the business of protecting dogs, as some elected officials and members of the public seem to believe. It’s in the business of protecting and supporting the interests of dog breeders and their profits.