The untimely passing of Bruce Hutchinson was a shock to all who knew him. Husband of Dee, in his own right, Bruce was a major force in the dog show community. Highly principled and particularly trustworthy, his forte and contributions were basically outside the ring rather than within the ring itself. Dee may have been the judge and the exhibitor and the breeder, but Bruce was the guiding light and pillar of strength for Rose Farm. Frequent visitors to each other's homes were we with the Hutchinsons. A relationship developed through the years among the four of us which transcended formalities. It was refreshing to be with people with no pretenses when we were together, that was for sure. Bruce called it the way he saw it—honestly and consistently. My thoughts have been with Dee and Nancy and Sandy (their daughters) frequently during the last week or so. I will miss Bruce not as intensely as will the Hutchinson family, but I feel privileged to have known him as well as I did.
I wonder what Bruce's reaction would have been to AKC's capitulation in the Petland situation. While he was pretty much of a realist, he was a breeder first—in the sense of his relationship to Dee's and Mrs. Onthank's (Dee's mother) participation in the sport. Bruce was extremely opinionated about controversial subjects, and he frequently wrote me letters about contentious subjects, with the caveat they not be printed or attributed to him. Years ago, such a letter was sent, and we were given permission by him to print it—we still hear about the repercussions from Dee!
As to the Petland arrangement and AKC's decision to pull out of its proposed deal, this was virtually predictable. The manner in which AKC handled telling the constituency was shockingly naïve. Consider the contentious reaction people in our sport have to the very words “pet shop,” and you know any mention of those spell trouble. I certainly am one who does not believe the Delegates should be involved in the running of neither AKC's finances nor in suggesting ways in which the Board and management should spend their money or in the deals they set up for the corporation. But common sense must alert everyone to the fact that in certain areas, such as anything pertaining to commercial kennels and breeders, ground mustbe broken slowly before a policy is brought out publicly. I'm not saying that in every instance any sort of Delegate input should be considered, but if you know you are playing with fire, be prepared to handle a hot topic differently than one less controversial.
What was totally unacceptable to me were the attacks onthe Board and Staff by Pat Laurens and her followers. Just read those Delegate Minutes. They were vicious and irresponsible and beyond reason. If, in fact, a secret meeting of at least six Delegates was held on Sunday night in Newark to plan their attack on this presentation, the people involved should come forward and own up as to their advanced knowledge of the arrangement. If they let a whole day pass without bringing up the topic at the Forum permitting innuendos to be made at a Parent Delegate Committee, they are not only guilty of bad taste, but they are guilty of deliberately setting up an ambush to embarrass everyone involved at the meeting. Whether this was done for political reasons is a conclusion to be drawn by some, but it certainly hardly shows good faith on their part. Of interest to many of you would be the fact that I contacted the six people via e-mail who were alleged to have been at the meeting, asking them the following for a Question of the Week: “When and how did you hear of the Petland arrangement with AKC?” This e-mail was sent over two weeks ago. Not one person answered the e-mail, and four of the six people never responded to phone inquiries either. And some of the backroom shenanigans presently going on by Delegates trying to ride the wave of Petland onto the Board are downright disingenuous at best. Forewarned is forearmed, I like to think, or as they say in Latin, “Praemonitus, praemunitus!” •