Canadian Views

Letter from the Canadian Kennel Club

Dear Mr Crowley:

On behalf of the Canadian Kennel Club Board of Directors, I am writing to lodge our objections about a request that we understand has been submitted to the AKC by the Greyhound Club of America to close the AKC studbook to dogs registered with the National Greyhound Association. (NGA)

The CKC currently recognizes the studbook of the NGA and will continue to do so. Members of the CKC and the Greyhound Club of Canada have expressed concern for the welfare of their breed. Should the AKC decide to grant the request made by the GCA, then under the AKC rules for registering foreign born dogs, any pedigree containing an NGA ancestry would be ineligible for AKC registration. Currently, there are Canadian bred puppies whelped and sired by AKC registered Greyhounds with NGA numbers. Therefore the NGA registration numbers would appear in the Canadian pedigrees preventing the foreign registration into the AKC records.

We would also like to bring to your attention, the fact that there are very few Greyhounds bred in Canada each year therefore; the gene pool is very limited. The majority of Canadian breeders have NGA ancestry in most of their dogs' pedigrees, not to mention those dogs that are sold to residents of the USA. If the AKC were to close its studbook to NGA, it would certainly have an adverse affect on the Canadian gene pool and ultimately, the Greyhound breed in Canada.

We at the Canadian Kennel Club therefore urge the American Kennel Club to deny the request of the Greyhound Club of America to close the studbook to the National Greyhound Association.

Sincerely,

THE CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB
Bryan D. Hocking
Chief Executive Officer

Letter from the Greyhound Club of Canada

James Crowley,
Executive Secretary,
Board of Directors,
American Kennel Club

Dear Sir,

    I am writing to you as the Secretary of the Greyhound Club of Canada regarding the issue of closing the American Kennel Club stud book to dogs registered with the National Greyhound Association (NGA). It is my understanding that the Greyhound Club of America, at it's last board meeting, voted to request that the AKC close the stud book to NGA registered dogs, by removing the NGA from the AKC's list of accepted domestic registries. This vote was in direct contradiction to the vote taken by the general membership of the GCA, which voted to leave the stud book open. I also understand that this issue has not yet been presented to the AKC Board, but as we anticipate that this will happen shortly, we would like to let our strong opposition to this move be known.

    The Greyhound Club of Canada is the national breed club for Greyhounds in Canada, and is recognized as such by the Canadian Kennel Club. As part of our guardianship of the breed, the GCC has always promoted and encouraged the preservation of the functional abilities of this wonderful breed. Our Register of Merit and Producer of Merit awards require both bench and field championships (as well as genetic clearances). As a result, there are a tremendous number of dual champions in the breed, and Canadian bred dogs have retained the traditional characteristics and coursing ability that define the breed according to the standard, and have managed to avoid the typical fads and trends of the show ring that tend to evolve and change a breed over time. This has also resulted in Canadian bred puppies and Canadian stud dogs being in demand in the US from those breeders and exhibitors who desire a dual purpose dog. Canadian dogs have consistently ranked in the top standings of the various sighthound performance sports (the top AKC coursing dog, all breeds, for 2000 is Canadian sired, and the top NOTRA racing dog for 2000 and the top coursing Greyhound of all time in ASFA are both Canadian bred and owned - these three dogs represent three different breeders).

    These feats are all the more remarkable when you consider the very small number of Greyhounds bred in Canada each year - generally 2 or 3 litters, and many Canadian breeders have accomplished this success through the judicious use of NGA registered dogs, with the full support and encouragement of the Greyhound Club of Canada. We believe that a good dog is a good dog, regardless of its registry. A review of the CKC registrations for the last 10 years (1991 to 2001) reveal that a total of 25 litters and 167 individual dogs were registered. An analysis of the pedigrees of these dogs reveal that 122 dogs, representing 73% of the dogs registered, had at least one ancestor within the last 3 generations that was NGA registered. In order to register a Canadian born dog with the AKC, all direct ancestors within a three generation pedigree must be registered with a recognized registry. If the AKC were to close the stud book to NGA dogs, 73% of Canadian dogs born in the last 10 years would be considered ineligible for AKC registration. This would be a terrible blow to the breed in Canada, as many Canadian breeders exhibit on both sides of the border, and many of our puppies are sold to competitive homes in the US.

    Although proponents of closing the stud book claim that the NGA and AKC dogs have evolved into distinctly different breeds, a large number of AKC judges seem to feel otherwise. Attached is a list of dogs of pure or partial NGA breeding which have been sucessful in US show rings, under US judges in recent years, as well as in the performance venues. This is not a new phenomenon - NGA dogs have earned AKC Champion status and have been sucessfully incorporated into breeding programs since the 1930's. I would be happy to supply the complete list for the last 70 years.

    We strongly urge the AKC to deny the request from the GCA Board of Directors to close the AKC stud book to NGA dogs when it is presented, and continue to allow breeders the freedom to use the most suitable dogs in their breeding programs, regardless of registry. In a breed such as the Greyhound, numerically small, and with a limited gene pool, it would be misguided to remove the vast majority of purebred Greyhounds in North America from AKC eligibility.

Respectfully submitted,
Laurie Soutar
Secretary,
Greyhound Club of Canada

cc: Dean Wright, Performance Dept, American Kennel Club Beth Ann Gordon, Corresp. Secretary, Greyhound Club of America