A Statement from the Author of Conflict of Interest and Impropriety

Every major newspaper and journalistic magazine in the United States has published articles without attribution or bylines, from The New York Times to the New York Post, TIME to Cosmo.

No names or breeds are mentioned in the article, no false or slanderous or deliberately hurtful statements are leveled. The formal complaint to the AKC was not made namelessly — I signed it — so the AKC knows who is who, as do all of the players. The article makes this perfectly clear — and, importantly, that the AKC found no infraction or conflict of interest. The facts presented in the article are the same as in the complaint, stand on their own, and are easily verifiable and corroborated by witnesses, and would be no different with my signature at the bottom.

Of course, if people want to read it as a parlor game or whodunnit — then the whole thing seems like gossip. While that may be entertaining or titilating, the names of the people don’t and shouldn’t matter particularly. The question at hand really is what do we do when confronted with the impression of impropriety — and this is a real challenge that comes up in every breed. In the AKC handbook the lion’s share of responsibility to avoid the impression of impropriety is directed at judges — it’s the judges who should know to and know how to avoid giving any impression of impropriety. It is an obligation that comes part and parcel with the privileges and authority vested in judges after considerable screening and review by the AKC. If that mechanism isn’t working I believe that says something about the judge and the guidelines and by necessity returns a next level of responsibility back to the AKC. The AKC has taken ever evolving positions on legislating against both impropriety and the impression of impropriety. Isn’t that what we all expect from the AKC?

Focusing on the attribution of the article rather than on the deeper questions it asks disharges our obligations as members/voters/participants/exhibitors/judges in the sport of dogs to live and play by common shared ethical standards and to work together to make rules that effectively close loopholes and promote true sportsmanship for the betterment of dogs.

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Posted by admin on Mar 4 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.