MESSAGE FROM THE ARC PRESIDENT

Hello Rottweiler Lovers,

Another week, another set of attacks on our breed (and others). Last week the ARC Legislative Committee tackled South Charleston, West Virginia where the Mayor was seeking to place strict ownership rules on "pits", Rottweilers and Presas. Have there been any incidents with "dangerous dogs "? Nope. Just ignorance, fear and a jump on the bandwagon.

Funny though, the wagon may be headed for a U-turn. Many countries are reversing bans, as they have seen that they fail to curb dog bites (Netherlands, Italy and Israel have or are considering revamping restrictions on specific breeds). Even Denver has heard rumblings of a change in their ridiculous breed ban (too late for the thousands of innocent dogs killed by the city). South Charleston has a letter from the ARC Legislative Committee, along with supporting documents. The letter will soon be on paws4laws.com for your review. A hearing was held last week and another last night. While we have a victory of sorts, the breed specific language was removed, the language still allows targeting of our dogs for reasons a bit more "underhanded". A subsequent letter is being sent as well.

Next up is likely to be Salem, Arkansas where there was a recent bite incident, allegedly involving a "pit bull". For some reason the City is adding Rottweilers to the "dangerous dog" list though. Opposition to breed specific proposals there will also be voiced by the ARC and the committee is working on an educational letter for the city officials.

Last week I got an email from a member of the U.S. Marines, pleading for help to stop the base from enforcing breed specific restrictions, including Rottweilers. This man will get all the help we can offer. This is not the only base or branch of the military where some paper pusher has decided to trample on the dog owning rights of those serving this country. Shameful is not an adequate term. The committee is working on this, trying to decide who needs to be contacted, likely the Senators for the states where the bases are located and the Armed Services Committee members.

The upcoming DOGS USA magazine will feature the Rottweiler. The ARC and several other clubs have placed a full page ad regarding the fight to protect our dogs from anti -canine legislation. While not identified in the ad, the featured dog is my own weight pulling phenom, "Daisy ".

The Board has passed several changes to some of the programs the club sponsors. The most recent revisions to the ARC Mentor and Presenter programs will soon be on the ARC website for you to review. These changes were made to relax the rules a bit to allow those with experience to be more actively involved in educating others about our wonderful breed. Additionally, Ann Glynn has volunteered to step up to the plate and take on the important officer role of Secretary, replacing Tina Church whose resignation was announced previously due to personal reasons. Ann is an excellent choice for the role of secretary and will undoubtedly do a great job, just as she has done as a member of the Board. We are seeking someone to appoint as a director to fill Ann's spot until the next election. If interested please email me.

You will also see posted on the website some proposed rules changes for agility. Please take a moment to review those. Any comments can be sent directly to AKC, or to me. We will see that AKC is informed. Also on the AKC front, the proposal for group realignment has been "postponed " which in AKC terms sometimes means they had more opposition than they bargained for! A proposal to allow all breed clubs to split the 12-18 month class has passed the AKC Board. Finally, our delegate, Peter Piusz, has been re-elected to the Parent Club Committee where he can continue to represent the ARC in a leading role for our breed.

That about wraps it up for this week. This weekend is the AKC's National Tracking Invitational in Kentucky. I was fortunate enough to be first alternate drawn (out of 28 alternates total), but it looks like the 10 who are in to compete will all be there. I considered going anyway, but decided the 20 hour drive was more than I could handle right now. It was a great time when we went (and actually participated ) in 2007.

Talk to you next week,

Jeff Shaver

Jeff Shaver
ARC President

P.S. As a friendly reminder, late dues are DUE! If you don't get them to the Renewal Chair this month, well, you will have to jump through a few extra hoops to stay a member!