[SengirV]

The AKC does NOT accredit anyone. More and more puppy mills are not registering with AKC because they don't like the AKC's inspections (facilities and paperwork). Further, the AKC is just a registering entity. It is not the "dog police"

Sorry I meant register, not accredit. Here are the requirements for registering to the AKC - http://www.akc.org/registration/registeralitter.cfm

And if you attempt to look in their regulations, you find lots of rules for showing, but very little to none on the health and well being of any dog.

Plain and simple, the puppy mills can charge more money for claiming a dog as AKC registered. The AKC gladly takes as much money as it can from ANYONE willing to give it money. The AKC sits back and knows that it is making money off the suffering of animals in puppy mills and does NOTHING about it. You claim that the AKC makes inspections of breeding facilities? Please show me any proof of such. I'd guess that there are more AKC judges at one minor dog show then there are inspectors for the entire country to look into breeding facility abuse.

Also, claiming that the AKC is just a registration entity does not absolve it of the responsibility to ensure that people are not commiting horrible acts to attain it's offical seal of approval. Especially when there is a known problem with puppy mills. Seems to me that the AKC would rather bury it's head in the sand and keep raking in the $$$ instead of looking out for the well being of dogs like it claims to do.

[Varda]

The AKC is a registering body (it keeps stud books) and it runs various competitions for its' registered dogs. It's not the American dog commissar that keeps idiot dog buyers from the consequences of their poor choices.

If you really are in need of finding advice for "health and well-being" why would you go to a stud book keeper instead of a vet?

Your post suggests that you did your research into dogs in the pages of some PETA newsletter. If you'd actually done research you'd know that the AKC can't determine what kind of or how many dogs anyone can own, only that those people obey the rules (and that's what they're inspectors determine). Commercial dog kennels are registered with various state agencies and in my state a yearly inspection is required to keep a kennel license. Even with this requierment the state rarely shuts puppy mills down.

Since the AKC doesn't give "seals of approval" there is no responsiblity to prevent people from buying what doesn't exist.