Recognition, registration and the still-open question of official status under the Animal Improvement Act
In April 2026 KUSA published a Statement of Intent and Execution announcing that, from 1 May 2026, it would accept voluntary applications to place American Bullies (Pocket and Standard only) on its Breed Appendix Register. The same statement says the Department of Agriculture accepted the American Bully as a canine breed under the Animal Improvement Act 62 of 1998 after representations made to the Registrar: Animal Improvement.
That is an important development. It is not, however, the same thing as DALRRD (the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development) having issued a public, standalone ruling that names KUSA as the registering authority for the American Bully in South Africa. No such gazette notice or official departmental statement has been published. What exists in the public domain is KUSA’s own account of discussions and an internal process to open an appendix register for two varieties.
Clarity on that distinction protects breeders, importers and owners. Import of unsterilised breeding stock and genetic material is tied to recognition under the Animal Improvement Act. Until DALRRD’s position is on the public record in its own voice, claims of exclusive official status should be treated with care.
What KUSA has done (and the limits of that step)
KUSA is a registered Canine Breeders’ Society and the FCI member organisation for Southern Africa. It has created a pathway for Pocket and Standard American Bullies onto an appendix register, adopted an interim standard NOT according to the ABKC standards, and created a time-limited arrangement for cropped-eared dogs used as breeding stock (not for exhibition).
They also have clear limits:
- Only two varieties are included. Other recognised American Bully varieties fall outside this window.
- The standard KUSA is using is not the ABKC standard that defined the breed internationally.
- Appendix registration is not automatic progression to a primary breed register.
- The legal foundation still rests on KUSA’s description of DALRRD engagement, not a published departmental determination that settles who may act as registering authority for this breed.
Where Bully Assure stands
Bully Assure is the only American Bully registry currently operating with the backing of SA Studbook, a long-established registering authority. Registrations issued through that integration carry a SA Studbook number as well as a Bully Assure number. That is a formal, operational framework already in use.
Separately, Bully Assure has lodged an official application via SA Studbook to DALRRD. That application has not yet been ruled on. Until the department decides, neither KUSA’s appendix process nor Bully Assure’s pending application should be presented as a final, exclusive grant of authority.
This is the honest position: two parallel processes exist. One is a kennel-club appendix route described by KUSA. The other is a studbook-backed application still awaiting a departmental ruling.
Important Distinction
Southern Africa’s American Bully community needs three things at once:
- Legal certainty for import and breeding under the Animal Improvement Act.
- A standard that actually describes the American Bully as developed by ABKC, not a narrowed subset.
- Traceability — DNA, parentage and registration that can be audited.
Bully Assure’s work sits on the second and third points today, and on the first through a pending DALRRD application submitted the proper way: through an established registering authority.
KUSA’s appendix register is a development the community should understand. It is not a substitute for a published DALRRD ruling, and it does not close Bully Assure’s application through SA Studbook. Until that ruling is issued, the responsible position is to register dogs properly, keep records complete, and wait for the department — not a press statement — to define official status.
