Bucks County Kennel Club photos ©DogPhoto.com
If there is one all-breed dog show in the U.S. which every exhibitor, judge, show super or whomever should be required to attend at least once in his or her lifetime it is the Bucks County Kennel Club event. For the student of the sport and for the ardent dog show competitor this show year after year represents the idealized presentation of a dog show. It just gets better with each year. 2006 will be the 65th year for the show, with the last 32 years having been held in magnificent Tinicum Park off Route 32. Certainly the drive from Bucks itself on Route 32 is worth the trip, as springtime is in total and full flowered bloom. The park is manicured to perfection, the rings ample and flowered, and the atmosphere brims with excitement and anticipation. It is nigh impossible to properly acknowledge the role of Josephine Deubler in the development of this show and the continued excellence of its presentation. I am happy to report that Dr. Deubler was well and seemed to be enjoying herself tremendously last Saturday. Indeed, perhaps part of her attitude had to do with the election of the new president, Stan Broadbent, a well known and acknowledged dog person who is now the Club's top officer. This should ensure a perpetuation of the club's integrity and devotion to the high principles in execution which has been the Deubler earmark.
The Rottweiler owned, handled and bred by Keith Carter was adjudicated Best in Show here under the very watchful eye of a surprise spectator to the show, Muriel Freeman, mother of the breed.
Although confined to a wheelchair during the show, Mrs. Freeman was in high spirits and seemed to enjoy herself tremendously and looked very well. The lineup for Best was, as one would have expected, quite high in quality. I could not attend Trenton nor Delaware Water Gap, but full reports of both shows will be forthcoming in an issue or two.
Since we printed both the AKC's and CHF's press releases with regard to the Lynch lawsuit, here's the press release sent out by her law firm on the matter. Their spin is obviously different than those of the other press releases, and in the interest of fairness it is herewith printed:
“On Wednesday, April 27, 2005, a Cuyahoga County jury determined that the American Kennel Club's Canine Health Foundation and two former Presidents of its board of directors, John Studebaker of Richland, Michigan, and Howard Falberg of Poway, California, violated Ohio law when they terminated Deborah Lynch of Aurora, Ohio, in 2003 and refused to consider her for open positions because of her age. The jury also unanimously agreed that the AKC's Canine Health Foundation and Mr. Studebaker unlawfully retaliated against and defamed Mrs. Lynch because she had filed her discrimination suit. The jury of four men and four women awarded Mrs. Lynch $544,498 and attorney's fees in an amount to be determined by the Court. Mrs. Lynch was represented by attorneys Christopher P. Thorman and Ryan A. Sobel of the Cleveland law firm Thorman & Hardin-Levine Co., L.P.A.
Mrs. Lynch was hired as the AKC Canine Health Foundation's first Executive Director in 1995 when the AKC founded the organization in Aurora, Ohio. She was promoted to Executive Vice President in 1998. Under Mrs. Lynch's direction, the AKC Canine Health Foundation became the world's premier fundraising organization for the promotion of canine health research. At trial, former Foundation board members, including the founding board President, testified that the defendants told them that Mrs. Lynch did not 'fit the profile' of the younger employees that the AKC and the Foundation wanted.
In 2003, the AKC Canine Health Foundation, Mr. Studebaker and Mr. Falberg terminated Mrs. Lynch from her employment only one month after she had earned the Foundation a coveted four-star rating from Charity Navigator, an independent evaluator of the financial health of American charities. After terminating Mrs. Lynch, the defendants replaced her with substantially younger and admittedly less-qualified employees.
Mrs. Lynch filed a claim of age discrimination in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on June 19, 2003. Soon after, the AKC Canine Health Foundation and Mr. Studebaker began making false and defamatory statements about Mrs. Lynch to others within the fields of canine studies, breeding and competitive dog showing.
The AKC Canine Health Foundation and Mr. Studebaker further retaliated against Mrs. Lynch by filing five counterclaims against her, the last two of which defendants abandoned on the eve of trial. Mr. Studebaker testified that the counterclaims would not have been brought against Mrs. Lynch had she not sued for discrimination. Nevertheless, prior to dismissing the claims, Mr. Studebaker and the Foundation openly discussed the counterclaims and defamed Mrs. Lynch. On cross-examination he admitted that the counterclaims against Mrs. Lynch were ‘baseless.’” •
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