AKC's Signature Show is Held in Long Beach, CA
Long Beach proposes to lift Breeding Ban... 

Could a revision to the Long Beach breeding ordinance have anything to do with the announcement of the AKC / Eukanuba National Classic being held there????  Does AKC deserve applause for pulling it off?  Or does the choice of venue deserve a kick in the pants for causing license fees to triple?

The Classic or National or whatever you call it will be held in Long Beach.  It's characterized in the local press as an “annual dog breeding event” which is illegal in Long Beach!  Talk about a contradiction!  But money talks because the event will bring millions in tourist revenue as people flock to the show and drop a lotta money in food, lodging, mementos, and sightseeing. The article points out “In 2003, the city gained about $4.6 million from the event” and that's an understatement.  Did other money go to Long Beach to secure the venue and a change in ordinance as has been alleged?  Was it that alluring a site when there are so many others?  Did the no-breeding ordinance make AKC seem just a little too hypocritical?  Many questions which may never be answered.

After all, who wants bragging rights to that kind of deal?

"We think it's a great place for the dog show," said Daisy Okas of the American Kennel Club Communications and PR department.  "We've been very clear that (lifting the ban is) important to us if we're going to look at (Long Beach) as a permanent home."

You decide if it is a good thing or not.  If the revision passes, (it will) dog license fees will increase $18.  That brings it up to $54 per year to keep an intact dog. There's a provision for a $500 fee to acquire a breeding permit.  The added revenue is to help finance additional employees to enforce the ordinance.

Quoting Animal Control Office, “I believe that this does give us a tool in which we can enforce the ordinance," Moore said. "I think we will be able to enforce backyard breeders breeding multiple litters." Figure that one out!  Does that mean people have been breeding litters in violation of the no-breeding ban and now they will have the staff to catch them, at the expense of show breeders who will pay the fee to be legal?  He also points out that “revenue from violation citations would support the new staff” so it probably will generate new income but the quick shift in policy could be interpreted as proof the ban wasn’t needed in the beginning, right? Or maybe it’s just that money talks and when funds are there to control breeding, it is okay to breed.  Get it?

Not everyone is happy.  "I'd rather have no breeding until we can handle what's already being bred and what's being dropped off at our shelter," said Justin Rudd, an animal activist. "There's too much breeding by irresponsible or unethical people."

The city impounded 4,126 dogs in 2005 and numbers have been stable in representing an improvement from 1995, when 6,378 dogs were impounded. Rudd says the new enforcers could be going into all the neighborhoods to let people know that breeding dogs without a permit is illegal. 

So here’s the way it stacks up, quoting from the presstelegram.  “The Long Beach Municipal Code has prohibited dog breeding for decades. But the American Kennel Club, which holds regional dog shows at the Long Beach Convention Center, recently pushed for the new ordinance after learning of the prohibition.”

It depends on the perspective.  Either good that the higher fees will generate money enough to cover enforcing a more tolerant ordinance or that there should never have been a breeding ban in the first place!!  One must wonder why in the world there would have been another dog show, ever, in a place that bans breeding, purebred or otherwise?  Is it a good thing that AKC saw an opportunity to hold it’s Signature Show there, in that city?  And that in bringing millions of acknowledged revenue to the area, it managed to get the city to lift the breeding ban?  At a price of course.

Many questions and they will be debated long after the AKC Eukanuba Classic National Show in Long Beach has become just another memory.

Source: www.Presstelegram.com Long Beach Calif. dateline 2/21/06. 
We thank Susan Wolf www.cubhill.com, for calling this ying-yang situation to our attention.  Editorial comments do not necessarily reflect Ms. Wolf’s position nor that of the Press Telegram.  Courtesy of TheDogPress.com