AKC JUDGE GEORGE BOULTON

Barbara "BJ" Andrews, Editor-In-Chief, SAAB - January 3, 2018

Is George D. Boulton a depraved AKC trouble-maker or a fearless champion of purebred dogs who dares to criticize the system? WHY he resigned BEFORE AKC Suspended him from Judging Privileges for 2 years!

This is not the first time we've interviewed George Bolton. TheDogPress has been thanked and threatened for exposing the underside of dog show politics or ineptitude.

BJ: George, we covered your case regarding AKC suspending you even though the trial board found you not guilty. Now we see in the August 2017 Minutes that you were again suspended and AKC's wording was not nice.

GB: I know, I talked with them and they aren't going to do anything about it. They just made crap up, regardless of what I said, it didn't mean anything to them.

BJ: So do you feel like you got a fair shake?

GB: No, no, not at all. Here's what happened. Years ago (2006), do you remember, there was a TV show?

BJ: Of course, we covered Showdog Moms And Dads^{1} but what does this have to do with that?

GB: It's because in 2006 I took AKC to one of their own trial boards. I didn't make up that TV show but they just weren't going to believe it. So I told AKC I wanted a trial board hearing. They agreed, I went there. There's three members on the trial board. One was a very old gentleman, who's since died and the other two were California trial attorneys.

BJ: But what does that have to do with this suspension?

GB: Because the AKC doesn't have any laws or rules to follow. They make them up as the go. For instance, I went to their trial board and I won. It was a 9 page document stating that I was not guilty of any their charges. The trial board looked at every episode completely.

BJ: That was years ago, what does that old case have to do with what's going on now? The notice in the Secretary's page states: “suspended for conduct unbecoming an AKC Approved Judge for inappropriate contact, comments or conversations with exhibitors, including but not limited to sexual comments or sexual harassment.” So did you harass someone sexually?

GB: Never! Never! Never!!! I was judging the PBGV (Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen) and the girl Janice somebody and her boyfriend each had a special in the ring, well I put up him, I didn't put up her. When I handed him the Best Of Breed ribbon, he said ”I think she's mad” thanked me and left the ring. As she was going out, she turned around and said loudly “I think my dog has more to offer than that one.”

When I got home I called the AKC and I said “Look, I think she was criticizing how I was judging and I want to make a protest” and they said “Oh, I'm sorry, you can't do that”. I asked “And just exactly why can't I?” She said because it's been over five days. I said “Who made that rule?” So now do you see where it's going?

BJ: You didn't make any comment to her or her boyfriend?

GB: Never, I didn't say anything to her, she just turned around to me and said that as I handed her the select ribbon and she walked out. That was it. But she was mad.

Now to show you, here's another thing, Stephanie House who shows my dogs, was showing in New Mexico, Stephanie was showing a French Bulldog and they were stuck in the heat and the dog started to gag, and a screwball was standing there saying “Oh you're going to kill the dog.” She replied “No the dog is just fine.”

Well he ran and called a bench show on her. The committee had to find somebody that's familiar with French Bulldogs, so they called on Beep Lee who wasn't even there, never saw anything, has no idea what happened. They said something like would you have kept showing the French Bulldog? He said “well no, I probably wouldn't”.

So the bench show woman decided on 30 day suspension. The handler said “For what?!” She took the dog to a vet. He gave the dog a clear bill of health, and the owner said yes, show the dog.

But 30 days wasn't good enough so what did AKC her? AKC bumped it up to a one-year suspension, and you want to know why? Because 10 years before she and her twin sister, Lauren, got into an argument at one of the shows and Stephanie called someone a bitch. So AKC said this is the second time this has happened, so we are going to give you a year.

So, here's what I did, I called Tim Thomas, the AKC Judges Department. I did this before the suspension thing ever happened. I said to him “I have a lot of things to do in my life, one of them is not to be at war with AKC.” I told him “They are always going to be after me, so I'm through judging”.

He said “what do you mean by that?” I replied that I don't need to judge, I don't need to prove anything to anybody. I said “I want you to take my name completely off the judges list.”

Tim asked, “Do you want me to remove it temporarily?” I said, “No Tim, not temporary, it's off forever, I'm never going to judge for AKC again”.

“Tim Thomas is a pretty nice guy, I really like him. But I just told him I'm through, that I don't need to judge, I like to do it for the clubs. I don't charge the clubs anything because I can afford to do it, and it helps the clubs if I can save them $800 - $900, that makes me happy”.

“That's what I do and that's what I've always done for the clubs. If AKC did anything to help the clubs it would be a blessing but they never will. They are always raising the fees.”

BJ: So to be clear… You resigned BEFORE you knew they were suspending you?

GB: Yes.

BJ: This is important, because it doesn't look that way. The way it's been published, it looks like you got mad and resigned.

GB: No, I resigned before they did any suspensions or anything. I called up Tim and he asked me was I sure this is what I wanted to do? I told him I didn't need the aggravation, so with a situation like this, I just dispose of it.

The AKC suspended me before on something I had absolutely nothing to do with and no control over. When I took them to their own trial board and was found not guilty of any of their charges, they went ahead and suspended me anyway.

Look at what they did to Bo Bengston. AKC invited him to take on the balance of the hound group, so he applied, and then they came back and said “you did --- and we're not going to give you the group”. After they invited him to do it! Bo really took them to the matt on that and they backed off. In his magazine he wrote several articles over it.

So you see, AKC can do whatever they want because they are a club and they don't have to follow any rules. They make up the rules for every person differently. As far as I'm concerned, it's over with, I'm done with them, I don't have to deal with them anymore and I told Tim that.

I like breeding dogs, I can breed good dogs, and I like doing that, and then again, I might not. There are a lot of other things I do. I show very expensive, exotic cars and that keeps me busy.

BJ: Thank you for granting us this interview. We wish you the “Best.”

Editor's Note: TheDogPress.com staff noticed that the suspension IS NOT in the actual August Board Minutes, as is normal procedure. George Boulton's suspension is only mentioned in the September Secretary's Page as a notation… ”At its August 2017 meeting, the American Kennel Club Board of Directors suspended the judging privileges of Mr. George Boulton...” Then, buried in the Judges section of the Secretary's Report is “Mr. George D. Boulton is Resigned.”

Reference and Related Information on the AKC vs. George Boulton:

{1} Showdog Moms And Dads  ~  AKC vs Boulton Trial (3-parts)  ~  AKC’s Double Prosecution   ~   Dog Sport Fireworks & Freedom

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