It's not a dog, it's a cult

From the AKC---

Annual Registration Statistics
The annual registration statistics for litters and dogs for your club's breed are no longer published in the AKC Gazette. We realize the importance to parent clubs of knowing the number of AKC registered dogs and litters for breed analysis so the following three years of information for your breed will be included in this annual letter.
Annual Registration Statistics for Spaniels (Welsh Springer)


Year         Litters         Dogs
2009         38              168
2008         54              240
2007         67              248

I almost cannot reconstruct how I wound up with a little WSS, and while it is fun having a dog that isn't seen everywhere, I wonder if this is getting a little too esoteric.

The birth numbers seem below sustainability to me.  I had to physically run the numbers to convince myself that these births mean about 2,000 in the U.S. (assuming 10-year life) and fewer (certainly) than 4,000.  An overly-popular breed has its obvious downsides, but is the WSS breed in the U.S. doing ok?   If a breed is dropped from the Gazette's publication, does that indicate a lack of interest or support from the AKC?  What's it to them to publish some stats?