AKC GR’s  Jacob Hupp recently attended the Doberman Pinscher Club of America’s National Specialty in Topeka, KS, to share AKC legislative resources and advocacy initiatives  with the club. 

Hupp gave a presentation to the DPCA on canine legislative trends, effective advocacy and shared AKC election resources with the club. The presentation included spirited discussion and feedback from nearly everyone who attended. Club members were particularly interested in discussing how to share their story with lawmakers and how to be more proactive by getting to know their elected officials and local candidates running for office. 

Hupp also participated in a legislative roundtable that included club officers, local lawmakers and legislative staff, and breed and veterinary experts. Legislative participants included  Congressman Jake LaTurner (KS-2), State Senator (and a proud Doberman owner) Rick Kloos (Senate District 19), and Jason Osterhaus and John Mugler, representing US Senators Jerry Moran and  Roger Marshall. 

The Legislative roundtable  included updates about AKC’s economic and policy impact throughout Kansas, and federal and state legislative trends and issues. 

 Dr. Kay Backues, DVM, and her dog Ajax provided an interactive obedience demonstration to display some of the amazing qualities of the Doberman Pinscher.

Following the roundtable, all participants watched the Doberman Pinscher Top 20 Agility competition. The exhilarating competition sparked the interest of the lawmakers and staff in attendance and provided just a small sample of the social and economic impact AKC events have on local communities. Congressman LaTurner addressed the crowd and thanked the DPCA and all those in attendance for bringing the event to his congressional district.

AKC’s Hupp added, “Thank you to the DPCA and the lawmakers in attendance for making this such a unique and successful event. I encourage clubs to reach out to AKC Government Relations to plan similar opportunities at upcoming shows to educate their members and lawmakers about canine legislative issues.”

We encourage you to visit our Legislative Action Center at www.akcgr.org to view our latest resources and information, including economic impact information for your state, talking points on key legislative issues, election resources and advocacy tools you can share with fellow exhibitors and club members. 

If you would like a member of the AKC GR team to speak to your club or attend your show to share resources and discuss how we can work together to be effective advocates for dogs, contact us at doglaw@akc.org.