O.E.S. Breed Council
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
Held
Sunday 4th April 2004
The meeting was opened by the Chairman at 12.45.
Those present.
Chairman, Vice chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant Secretary
K.C.L.C. Breed rep. East Anglian Lancastrian Midland North Western
OES Scotland OES Wales South Western
Apologies. Northern Ireland.
Minutes of meeting held on 12th October
2003.
These had been received and read by the members.
The chairman read a letter from the O E S Club of Wales pointing
out that no apology had been received from the Secretary of the
South Western as requested by the Scottish club. It was agreed
that this be added to the minutes of the last meeting under matters
arising.
Acceptance of the minutes
Proposed by Scotland Seconded by the Lancastrian Passed by the
meeting.
Matters Arising.
Mr Owen highlighted a typographical error referring to his position
as 'Bread' Liaison Rep. The Secretary told the meeting that the
letter from Mrs Sculthorp on behalf of the delegates at the Breed
council seminar had been dealt with. After discussions with the
officers at the time, and the Kennel club, he had been able to
confirm that the Kennel club now had the correct forms in their
possession. All of those affected had been updated by the Secretary.
Correspondence.
The Secretary explained that he had forwarded copies of all correspondence
which he felt the clubs should see prior to the meeting.
All routine items had been dealt with and the list of these was
read to the meeting.
Docking. The K C had sent a copy of
their docking policy which was read to the meeting. The meeting
felt it lacked any useful substance.
The letter from the Kennel Club giving the new tail clause for
the breed standard raised the question of the ownership of the
breed standard. Some members expressed the view that we should
return to the original standard which used the points system.
Mr Owen told the meeting since 1923 other countries had referred
to our breed standard but had amended it for their own use.
Mr Owen also raised the possibility of taking questions to the
K C regional meetings these are listed in the Kennel Gazette.
The Midland club thought it short notice for the nearest one but
one of the others was possible.
Breeder's scheme.
Details of this had arrived too late to have any input to the
documentation this year. The Secretary had collected copies of
the scheme at Crufts and the only required check was for eyes.
This did not state how frequently they should be checked and no
requirement for hip scoring was included. The Secretary will send
copies of the document to clubs so that they can decide what they
want included. Provided this is agreed at the next meeting it
can be forwarded to the K C for inclusion in the next reprint.
The Lancastrian raised the issue of vaccinations following an
item in the dog press about the over vaccinations of dogs. Several
members felt this was the case and some did not vaccinate every
year. The Scottish representative urged caution as there are cases
of parvovirus etc and young and old dogs are at the greatest risk.
Blood testing was an alternative but is still quite expensive.
Judging Lists.
" A3. The Lancastrian said progress
had been made with the last changes and felt no further changed
was required at this time.
Proposed by the Lancastrian, and seconded by Scotland that the
current criteria remains unchanged. This was passed by the meeting.
2. Judges sub committee. The Secretary
having received an application form from a judge wishing to be
considered for the A3 list, asked the meeting how they wished
to deal with future applications. It was agreed that applications
from judges should be sent to the member club who holds their
initial application. New judges should contact the nearest breed
club who is a member of the breed council. The Secretary agreed
to produce a policy statement which will be sent to member clubs,
posted on the web site and issued to the press. Mr Owen pointed
out that the current issue of the Kennel Gazette states that Breed
Councils must show how the criteria and judges lists are produced.
The statement will be included with the annual returns.
3. Judging list application forms. This item need not be discussed
in the light of the decision made in item 2.
Breed Council Constitution.
The Chairman thanked the members for all their hard work in producing
constructive suggestions for the proposed new constitution. He
had received numerous replies from the member clubs and had produced
another draft which tried to take into consideration the points
raised. The rules that are mandatory are referenced in red. The
chairman then proceeded to read through the revised draft.
" Some discussion took place on the issue of members joining
and the need to give notice of their intention.
" The Treasurer said that she charged the full subscription
regardless of when a club joined.
" The Lancastrian thought clubs only joined at the start
of the year in time for the AGM. The South Western felt clubs
should be allowed to join at any time. Clubs would normally decide
to join as a result of a vote at their AGM. This vote may not
coincide with the first meeting of the year.
" The election of Officers. It was felt that the Chairman
and Vice Chair should retire in the same year as should the Secretary
and assistant Secretary. The Treasurer will retire in the same
year as the Secretary (2005).
" The Lancastrian felt the facility to co-opt a replacement
Officer in the events of a resignation should be included. This
should be by a vote of the members at the first available meeting.
The Scottish Rep supported the clause as originally presented.
This would allow Council business to continue uninterrupted but
the position should be ratified at the next meeting.
" The meeting also felt that the term Executive should be
removed and the term Officers reinstated.
" The Chairman may ask the meeting to vote on the removal
of a member who disrupts any meeting.
" The proposal for the Chairman to be given a casting vote
was agreed.
As a result of the discussion the Chairman will produce another
draft which will be sent to member clubs for their committee's
consideration. It is hoped that a final draft can be agreed at
the next meeting. This will give time to get Kennel Club approval
before a vote at the next AGM. The Chairman thanked the meeting
for their constructive input.
The Vice Chairman proposed a vote of thanks to the Chairman for
his work on the constitution. This was supported by the meeting.
Champions Class.
The Breed Liaison rep reported that the matter had been raised
at the last meeting by another breed and he had added our support
it. The request had been sent to the Kennel Club but they had
rejected it. He then read out the reasons.
The Meeting felt the reasons were not valid and that the matter
must be pursued. The Secretary agreed to write to as many Breed
Councils as possible to put pressure on the K C to think again.
It was also the general view that unless something is done entries
will continue to fall and this will result in more shows loosing
their C C's.
Health Matters.
The Secretary asked the meeting to chase up their club members
over the return of the health forms. They should be returned before
the end of April.
The Scottish club are taking part in an American DNA testing scheme.
They will forward details to member clubs for their information.
Members wished to know what information would be available from
the research.
A general discussion on DNA testing followed and the Lancastrian
stated that the K C required clubs to raise over £2000 for
initial research. However this would only be the start and more
funds would need to be raised.
Items Reserved.
None.
A.O.B.
The Lancastrian Club proposed that a Breed Liaison Officer Update
should be included as a standing item on the Council meeting agenda.
This was agreed by the meeting.
Mr Owen asked if it was possible for an attendance list to be given to him before the meeting as he is unable to produce the badges without one. This can be done if clubs e-mail the Secretary in the week prior to the meeting.
As a result of traffic problems earlier in the day members included their mobile telephone numbers in the membership book. The Secretary will produce a list of these numbers so delegates can contact the meeting if they are delayed.
It was also suggested that E-mail
addresses should be included on the judges lists. Judging sub
committees should consider this.
The Breed Liaison rep raised the question of C C allocation, and
the fact that the K C was asking for input from Clubs and councils.
The treasurer told the meeting that Leeds will be loosing C C's
next year. The Lancastrian have records of entries at all the
major shows and agreed to send the information the Mr Owen who
will produce a map showing the location of shows and the level
of entries. Members agreed to send any information they held to
Mr Owen. The meeting was concerned at the loss of shows and felt
as much as possible should be done to reverse the situation.
The Web site is now up and running
and received 187 visits in the last week of February and 330 in
March. The Lancastrian commented on the Scottish site and the
animation used in it. The Scottish rep told the meeting that most
items were covered by copyright and permission would be needed
to use any.
The Chairman expressed a vote of thanks to Mr Hudson, Secretary,
for his development and maintenance of the web site. The meeting
supported this.
The Secretary confirmed that he had contacted the Breed Notes representatives regarding updates on Council business.
The Midland Club took the opportunity to express how much they had enjoyed the meeting. This was warmly received by all members who agreed with the sentiment.
Date of next meeting.
This was agreed for the 24th of October 2004. The chairman left
the meeting to confirm the availability of the room.
The Chairman confirmed the next meeting date and the meeting closed
at 15.40.