The Indiana House of Representatives will soon be voting on House Bill 1468, which imposes limits on dog ownership and labels anyone who sells five dogs a year as a "pet dealer".  The American Kennel Club and its members agree with the sponsor and supporters of this bill that animal cruelty is deplorable.  Dogs should […]

Over 100 concerned dog and cat owners attended yesterday’s hearing in Riverside County and convinced the Board of Supervisors to accept amendments to the proposed spay/neuter and mandatory microchipping ordinance. Although the ideal outcome would have been the defeat of this ordinance and to focus efforts on responsible animal owner education programs and stronger enforcement […]

Responsible dog owners won a decisive victory Thursday afternoon when the Montana House Local Government Committee voted 17-1 against a bill to ban "pit bulls" in the state. House Bill 191 prohibited the ownership, harboring, or keeping of dogs described as "pit bulls".  "Pit bulls" was defined to include Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, […]

A bill to regulate pet breeders is scheduled to be voted on by the House Business and Labor Committee on March 24. House Bill 608 seeks to establish licensing, inspections, regulations, fees, and penalties for dog and cat breeders.  It would define a “commercial breeder” as: A person or entity who owns, keeps, or harbors […]

AKC Government Relations has learned that the Pasadena City Council will conduct a first reading of an ordinance to require the sterilization of all dogs and cats within the city limits. Limited exemptions will be provided. However, even with those exemptions, ANY dog that is impounded for ANY reason will be sterilized before being released, […]

Two mandatory spay/neuter bills have been filed in the Texas Legislature.  House Bill 4277, sponsored by Representative Jose Menendez of San Antonio, and Senate Bill 1845, sponsored by Senator Leticia Van de Putte also of San Antonio, will require that all dogs over six months of age be sterilized.  The American Kennel Club (AKC) and […]

The American Kennel Club’s Government Relations Department (AKC GR) has become aware of a technical issue affecting some legislative alerts.  Unfortunately, due to a glitch on our new website, user searches are returning old legislative alerts that are missing a date of publication.  As a result, years-old alerts are appearing on the website as if […]

Bitpat's Dear Abby BN TD and Just Jesse TD, both owned by Elizabeth Patton of Lawrence, KS On March 4, 2018, each of Elizabeth (Bitsey) Patton’s dogs earned a Tracking Dog (TD) title. That’s right, two TDs in one day! “It was quite a day,” said Bitsey. [caption id="attachment_52624" align="alignright" width="231"] Bitpat's Dear Abby BN […]

The American Kennel Club (AKC®), the world's largest dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, is pleased to announce the winners of the Companion Animal Law Writing Contest. The contest was open to all students currently enrolled at an ABA-accredited law school and offered a first-place prize of $2500 and a second-place prize of $500. […]

-The new expanded website provides one stop for all your dog’s needs- New York, NY- The American Kennel Club (AKC®), the world’s largest purebred dog registry and leading advocate for dogs, is pleased to announce the launch of its newly, re-designed website AKC.org. The website site has a completely redesigned and enhanced to include expanded […]