New York, NY -- The American Kennel Club announced today that effective January 1, 2004, David Roberts will take over the duties of Dolores Alonso, Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Registration Services, who plans to retire at the end of 2003. Roberts, who is currently the AVP of Customer Relations, will maintain his current duties in addition to taking on the new responsibilities. His new title will be AVP of Registration and Customer Services.

In addition, Linda Duncklee is being promoted to Director from Manager of Registration Operations, a position she has held since 2001. Duncklee joined the AKC in 1992 and has held various positions with the registration department.

Dolores Alonso, a 40-year veteran of the AKC has held numerous positions at the AKC, all within the registration department. She began her career as a file clerk and over the years worked in quality control and registration processing among many other positions, before being named AVP in 2000.

David Roberts has been with the AKC since 1996. Prior to joining the organization, he was involved in the sport as a breeder, exhibitor and professional handler. With over 30 years of experience in purebred dogs, Roberts is uniquely qualified to assume this additional responsibility.

"The many contributions Dolores has made to our organization over her long tenure are too numerous to count," said Dennis B. Sprung, AKC's Chief Operating Officer. "We are of course saddened to lose such a loyal and dedicated employee, however we are confident that David's many years of experience within the sport and at the AKC make him an ideal choice to oversee one of the most important of AKC's functions -- registration."