Metro Council
Louisville Metro Hall
527 West Jefferson Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
To the Council:
In Re: Opposition to the animal control ordinance under consideration:
Clermont County Kennel Club is an AKC-member club serving dog owners, breeders, exhibitors, and the general public in Greater Cincinnati. Our members strongly support the March Kentuckiana cluster of dog shows and obedience events hosted by the kennel and training clubs in the Louisville area. This letter is to indicate our agreement with Louisville Kennel Club that the proposed animal control ordinance now under discussion is unfair and burdensome to responsible breeders and owners.
Kennel, breed, and training clubs are the backbone of any effort to encourage responsible dog breeding, training, and ownership. As a practical matter, AKC clubs should be embraced as part of the solution to local animal control problems because our members already promote responsible ownership by example and through public education efforts. In addition, we provide healthy puppies for purchase as pets, contribute to canine charities, and conduct events that delight the public and bring hundreds of thousands of dollars into local economies each year. The Kentuckiana cluster is an excellent example; the 4000-plus dogs that compete are accompanied by thousands of owners who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at hotels, restaurants, and other businesses.
Unfortunately, the current proposal of taxes and controls on breeders, owners, and exhibitors jeopardizes what should be a natural partnership between these experts and stakeholders and the community animal care agency. Many of the provisions are insulting to those who already license their dogs, keep them properly confined, practice good husbandry. Particularly short-sighted are clauses that
Members of Clermont County Kennel Club have many friends in the Louisville area and are annual exhibitors at the Kentuckiana cluster of dog shows and at events hosted by Greater Louisville Training Club, Derby City Agility Association, and local breed specialty clubs. If this ordinance or any other with similar provisions should pass city council, our members will reassess participation in these events.
We urge you to work with Louisville Kennel Club and other responsible dog clubs in your city and county to draft a law that is workable and does not punish the conscientious breeders who are already your best assets.
Sincerely,
Clermont County Kennel Club
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