Jodi Posted May 14, 2006 Report Share Posted May 14, 2006 Press Release from the AKC site: AKC Adopts Judging Conflict of Interest Policy [Friday, May 12, 2006] New York, NY ? The American Kennel Club? Board of Directors has adopted a new Judging Conflict of Interest Policy, effective January 1, 2007. AKC? believes that it has the best judges in the world and expends millions of dollars a year to administer its judging approval system to ensure that quality remains high. "AKC judging approval confers a certain status on an individual and with such status comes an enormous responsibility to both AKC and the Sport as governed by AKC," said President and CEO Dennis B. Sprung. The policy states, with some notable exceptions, that AKC approved judges should be focused on judging and supporting AKC events. Approved judges should not have a significant interest in another registry that is in direct conflict with AKC or be judging for another event-giving organization to the possible detriment of events held by AKC member and licensed clubs. The complete policy is as follows: JUDGING CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY No AKC judge may have a significant interest in a dog registry or dog event-giving organization deemed by the AKC Board to be in competition with the American Kennel Club. Significant interest would include, but not be limited to ownership of, employment by, a directorship in, and holding office in. Any AKC-approved judge, who shall judge a purebred dog event in the U.S. not in accordance with the rules of AKC, which apply to such purebred dog events without the express permission of the AKC, may be disciplined even to the extent of having his or her AKC judging approval revoked. An AKC-approved judge may judge breeds that are not AKC registrable and/or that they have not been approved for by AKC at non-AKC events. The AKC Board has also given permission for the judging of certain other events based upon the following criteria: AKC has no comparable events in place. While AKC has a program in place, AKC judges have officiated at events under the aegis of the other organization for years before the AKC program was initiated. The type of event is not or would not be perceived as being contrary to the best interest of AKC and the sport of purebred dogs. The event is a breed or type of breed-specific performance activity. No AKC approval is needed to judge versatility or performance activities developed by AKC Parent Clubs and sponsored by such clubs. Events held by the following organizations meet the above criteria, and AKC-approved judges may continue to judge them: American Sighthound Field Association Coursing Events American Working Terrier Association Earthdog Events American Herding Breed Association Events North American Versatility Dog Association Pointing Breed Hunting Tests American Field Pointing Breed Field Trials United Kennel Club Coonhound Events Professional Kennel Club Coonhound Events Any of the various organizations sponsoring Agility Trials Other activities may be added to this list at the discretion of the AKC Board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 I hear music. It's the Darth Vader "Evil Empire" theme from Star Wars . . . The shadow grows longer, Luke. So, does anyone doubt now that the AKC wants to be the only game in town? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katelynn & Gang Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 Wow, just wow. Katelynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 Isn't this like, illegal? As in monopolizing a commodity in order to profit unethically from said monopoly? Sheesh. Ruth n the BC3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 I suppose it will force some folks to choose one or the other. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katelynn & Gang Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 I wonder if they did this just because of the Border Collie breed and its problems? People will have to get off the fence now, I guess. Now, if we can just get dual registering banned, we?ll be all set. Katelynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 Actually, I think the only performance venue this will hit will be the Obedience department. ISDS style trials, ASCA and AHBA were all around before AKC had their herding venue. So, judges that were judging are "grandfathered" in (or out) depending upon how you look at it. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 So far, it doesn't apply to agility judges. Maybe not herding judges either??? Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 No AKC judge may have a significant interest in a dog registry or dog event-giving organization deemed by the AKC Board to be in competition with the American Kennel Club. "In competition with?" That tells you something about their mentality. So far, it doesn't apply to agility judges. Maybe not herding judges either??? Well, they did leave the door open. "Other activities may be added to this list at the discretion of the AKC Board." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.E.S Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 "So far, it doesn't apply to agility judges. Maybe not herding judges either???" well it mentions the AHBA as one of the organizations that meet their criteria. So this reads as herding organizations are included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Glen Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 I think they know better than to take on the agility world. When AKC came out with an agility program, my friends that did agility called it "special olympics agility". I think if they forbid judges to do other agility organizations, then they would find they had a shortage of AKC judges. I think the agility ball is so big that even AKC can't stop it and they know it. Jenny PS I'm sure that AKC will not want judges to judge USBCHA herding 'cause they know how much we dislike them. AHBA competitors have the same mentality as AKC competitors. (I know I shouldn't generalize but it's true) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted May 16, 2006 Report Share Posted May 16, 2006 AKC is so ACK, it makes me ill. This no competition clause is very good at allowing everyone insight into what they are about= $$. Did you all know that those folks who compete in the USDAA IFCS (world, Olympic format) are not allowed to compete in the AKC Worlds? How's dem apples? It makes for bad press for them, but they don't seem to get it. Not that I care, though Don't compete in AKC, and don't plan to. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosanne Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 Actually, not that it really matters, but that is an FCI policy, not an AKC one. AKC only fields the team, they don't have anything to do with the rules and policies at the international competition. In fact, they only attend as an invited guest, as most of the competitor countries are FCI (a kennel club) members. AKC did find it in their shriveled little hearts to take a dog/handler this year that competed at the last IFCS/USDAA international competition in 2004. I can't see USBCHA and AKC herding trials as being competing events - they just aren't really the same thing, are they? And it does say that if it was around before AKC picked it up it would be OK, just like agility. Special Olympics agility - I like that one. I was into agility before AKC or even NADAC showed up on the scene and I hadn't thought of that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobh Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 I agree with Rosanne ,Akc does not stop the USDAA /Ifcs people its Fci policy. bobh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eileen Stein Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 > Roseanne, how could the AKC manage to do this if the FCI sets the rules and they have a rule against it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 18, 2006 Report Share Posted May 18, 2006 From what I gather from a list that's largely AKC/AHBA herding folks, the only herding venue that's exempted is AHBA, which means ASCA and USBCHA judges would not be allowed to judge AKC trials als. Interestingly, some of the folks on this same list seemed to think this was a good idea since the USBCHA types were brought in when the AKC program was just started and they needed people who knew *something* about herding. Now that AKC has trained "all-breed" judges, these people don't think the USBCHA (read breed biased) judges are necessary. The other side of the argument is that banning certain types of judges just opens the door to banning other types later. But all seem to agree that it's just AKC trying to monopolize, per usual. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiegirl Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 Of interest here, I contacted the FCI about the world competition, and AKC, and USDAA. FCI told me point blank that it was NOT their rules- it was AKC's. They went on to tell me that the largest kennel club in said country determines who will be part of the team, not the FCI. It is all very tenuous since we are not members, and it is becoming even more tenuous of late... But really, it doesn't matter. If I were ever to be capable of competing in a world level competition, the IFCS would be my only choice- I am TOO against breed requirements in agility. Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blessedmom Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 Well goes a long way to show how money hungry they are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Glen Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 Who is FCI? Is that an agility governing board or something? Jenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted May 19, 2006 Report Share Posted May 19, 2006 It's an international registering body. You find a lot of breeds here that are not recognized by ACK. It's mainly a conformation registry and they hold shows world wide. http://www.fci.be/home.asp?lang=en Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosanne Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Well AKC lies then. Or FCI has changed its policy in the last year or two. The policy used to be that you could not compete in BOTH an FCI championship AND a "competing" championship the same year. They could take a dog who did IFCS in '04 because it's now been 2 years since Marcus competed for IFCS. AKC's website used to state quite emphatically that this was an FCI policy. I had heard from IFCS people as well that this was true - however it was also well-known that many FCI member countries were going to field teams that included IFCS competitors from the same year, in spite of the FCI rule. Perhaps FCI just gave up - I think AKC's excuse was that because it's not a member country it didn't want to upset FCI and risk getting kicked out permanently. If USDAA changes their selection criteria, I will gladly abandon my FCI hopes. As of right now, I am MUCH too poor to spend all year traveling about the country amassing Tournament points, despite the fact that my dog has beaten every one of the dogs on the IFCS team at one trial or another. (USDAA chooses the IFCS team by overall point accumulation throughout the entire year in special tournament classes - thus people who travel to trials that hold these classes pretty much every weekend can get on the team even if their dogs average 3rd or 4th place, because they just have MORE points, rather than the fastest/best dogs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Originally posted by Rosanne D.:....USDAA chooses the IFCS team by overall point accumulation throughout the entire year in special tournament classes - thus people who travel to trials that hold these classes pretty much every weekend can get on the team even if their dogs average 3rd or 4th place, because they just have MORE points...... Ahh, the ol' trailer race. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike goracke Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 And how exactly is AKC going to know if someone is a USBCHA judge, since there really is no such thing. We hire judges to judge our USBCHA trials, but they go thru no real sanctioning process for 90% of the trials and are nominated/voted in by their peers for the other 10%. I've sure never seen a USBCHA judges card. Not that I think that would be a bad idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workindogs Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 I guess I don't understand what the problem is...this seems to be a good thing. More separation. Judges straddling the fence will need to pick their venue. Those choosing AKC can leave. It's a good thing, it seems. Does someone else have another perspective??? Elizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katelynn & Gang Posted May 25, 2006 Report Share Posted May 25, 2006 I agree it is a good thing. We should write thank you letters. lol Katelynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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