Club Notices - AGM 2010

Minutes (Unconfirmed) of AGM held 18th April 2010

The meeting was held in the Institute, Aberdour, Fife.

Present

Kim Allison, Neil Falconer, Phil Poole, Linda Forret, Jan Holliday, Nick Wilkes, Bill Close, Maura Lyons, Keith Scott, Liz Macbeth.

Apologies for Absence

Sandy & Christine Millar, Donna Beveridge, Judith Wilkes, Sabine Rinke, Ann & James Macauley, Alf Holliday.

Minutes of Previous AGM

The minutes of 2009 AGM were approved, proposed by Keith Scott, seconded by Neil Falconer.

Matters arising

Heart Testing – again at Maybole in September. Bookings for this year by deposit to the treasurer, as there was a loss last year.

Correspondence

Irish Wolfhound Health Group Report was received from Rebecca Peek, and summarised as follows: (Full version will be available on website )

WOLFHOUND HEALTH GROUP - SUMMARY OF REPORT FOR 2009
(as given by Rebecca Peek to the 2010 AGM of the Irish Wolfhound Club)

Heart Testing - 2009 - second year of the Scheme. Must be stressed that we have provided sessions to meet members needs, but uptake variable, struggling in a couple of the areas last year. Its challenging to keep the cardiologists interested and willing - there is little in it for them other than their goodwill. We shouldn’t take the vastly reduced costs offered for granted. All dogs provide valuable information for Research, and regular testing gives the opportunity to benefit from early diagnosis. It cannot stressed strongly enough that if we don’t support our own scheme, we will not be able to run it. – IF YOU DON’T USE IT, YOU’LL LOSE IT. This is particularly important as the KC/BVA have approached the breed about wanting to run a more formal heart testing scheme for us. At the moment we have been heart testing for over 25 years and we have a database in Serena’s research, we now have a more structured Regional Heart Testing Scheme. The KC/BVA know that we do not want to run two schemes in parallel and that we are happy with our current structure and charges. They know that any scheme that they might develop for us would only be considered if it were based on the current format.
We are in no doubt that in the long run they are likely to impose a scheme on us that will demand that we heart test all breeding stock, if you choose to breed without approval the offspring might not be registered. It is also likely that the KC will want to publish the results and the costs are likely to be in excess of what is currently being charged.
The Group feels that it is important that our scheme is well supported as more likely to be adopted by the KC/BVA.

Imperial College, London Research and the LUPA Project - Serena currently running a further stage of research with Imperial College London, to help identifygenes responsible for AF in wolfhounds. The LUPA Project also hoping to identify the genes responsible for heart problems in several breeds and Liverpool University has already canvassed for older wolfhounds with and without AF/DCM. Please see www.iwhealthgroup.co.uk for more details.

Kennel Club Accredited Breeders Scheme - Our concerns about Health Issues were on the whole met by the Kennel Club and implemented. However, KC has not responded to more general concerns about the scheme and our proposals. We have chased them on this. Until they respond, we do not believe the ABS meets the needs of the breed. Although we applaud the basic aim of the scheme, we should not support it until it more closely reflects our standards.

AHT Blood Repository - Last year the membership agreed that a Blood Repository should be set up at the AHT and Ł1,000.00 was donated from the Health Fund to buy a storage facility. The purpose of this is to store blood to help in all research projects relating to the breed – it will provide DNA profiles when needed. Surplus blood can be taken at the time that blood is taken for any medical reason and this can include when puppies are Livershunt tested. The blood can then be stored until needed and we have devised a form and instructions which can be downloaded from the website.

KC Breed Health Plan - All our breed bodies proposed the IWHG as the single, central Point of Contact for the KC and Tim Finney as its Secretary is the recipient of all communication. All breed bodies remain informed and involved in all issues that require breed member input.

KC/Dogs Trust - Inquiry into Dog Breeding - We submitted a full and informed reply which was the result of feedback from the breed bodies committees and breeders. All our correspondence with the KC can be found on our website under Health.

Booklet - There is continuing awareness of and demand for the Group’s booklet, It will soon be available to breeders to download directly from the website, but remains relatively inexpensive to produce the printed version.

Auditor - We agreed we should appoint an auditor to oversee and approve the books and Bernard Brace has agreed to fulfil this role for us.

Presidents Report

It is heartwarming to see the club grow, albeit slowly, with membership now standing at 48 members. There has also been a notable increase in the contributions to the newsletter, making it easier to offer a more interesting and varied content.

We have continued to hold some social events throughout the year. Both the Braefoot Suasage sizzle and the Forfar loch walk were well supported – even by the weather! We have to thank Maura and Keith for their very welcoming hospitality at the Forfar walk.

We have the Vogrie walk to look forward to on the 16th of May. Vogrie country park is just off the A68, between Pathead and Dalkeith, so should appeal to our members who are more southerly. Put the date in your diary, we hope to see you there.

Less positive was the heart testing session at Maybole, which ran at a loss, mainly due to last minute cancellations, although there were mitigating circumstances in some cases. It is important that we get our hounds tested annually, in order to ensure that any signs of disease are detected as soon as possible, allowing treatment to begin early, and the best possible prognosis. The rates we are offered by doing these sessions are extremely good, cost per hound if screened at the Vet schools will be nearer the Ł200, so please take advantage of these sessions, without support we will not be able to continue them. If you would like to book a place at this year’s session, to be held on Sunday 5th September again at Maybole, then please ensure that you send your deposit in to the Treasurer as soon as possible.

Our 2010 Calendar was completely sold out, which was fantastic. There has already been quite a number of photos submitted for the 2011 one, if anyone still has to send theirs in, please do so immediately or they will be too late to be considered. It would also be helpful if you can advance order your calendars, we may then be able to increase the print run to ensure that no one is disappointed next year.

Finally, it is with regret that we lose some of our long standing members of the committee, who have over the years given generously of their time. Firstly, Donna Beveridge, a great asset to the club for many years, now feels that she has other commitments preventing her for being as active as she would like, has regrettably decided not to continue on the committee. Even today, unable to be here for the whole day, she took the time to drop in and say hello, and leave a contibution for lunch. We are also losing Jan Holliday, who has been our treasurer since the inception of the club in 2002. She has kept a firm control over the purse strings over the years, and the proof is in the fairly healthy bank balance that she passes over to our new treasurer, Maura Lyons. So, from myself, the committee and the members, I would like to extend a very big thank you to them both for all their help over the past few years.

Treasurer’s Report

Jan gave a full report on the financial activities of the club over the last 12 months, saying how at one point the cash flow was a little stretched, and finances looked a bit precarious, but that the issue had now resolved, and the balance was now fairly healthy. (Full balance sheet is attached) The audited accounts were passed to the new treasurer, Maura Lyons.

Election of Committee

The President thanked the retiring committee members, and a small gift was given to Jan, retiring as Treasurer after eight years, as a token of appreciation.
The committee for 2010/11 will be:
President - Bill Close
Vice President - Nick Wilkes
Treasurer - Maura Lyons
Secretary - Linda Forret
Co-ordinator - Christine Millar
Committee - Phil Poole, Keith Scott, Kim Allison.

Motion 1 - “That the membership fees of the Irish Wolfhound Club of Scotland be increased with effect from 1 January 2011. The new rates to be Ł10 joint membership and Ł7 single membership.”

The membership fees have been unaltered since the inception of the club, and have been amongst the lowest of all similar clubs.
Proposed by Jan Holiday
Seconded by Sandy Millar – (in his absence, Linda Forret seconded the motion.)
Carried unanimously.

The membership fees will therefore be increased with effect from 1 January 2011. (Effective from 1 October for new members joining after then, as their fees will not then be due again until 1 Jan 2012).

Motion 2 - “That the Irish Wolfhound Club of Scotland subscribe to the Justice for Dogs Organisation”.

This organisation provides advice and assistance to owners of dogs involved in legal proceedings. The fee to the club would be Ł20, and is a relatively small amount to pay in return for access to the help and information that they could offer our members if any of them were in need of it.
Proposed by Nick Wilkes
Seconded by Linda Forret
There was a short discussion regarding this motion. As the club is financially more stable now, it was felt that there was no reason why we could not afford the current membership of Ł20. The motion was therefore carried unanimously.

Motion 3 - “That the Irish Wolfhound Club of Scotland adopt the following Code of Ethics, in accordance with the directive issued by the Kennel Club in 2008”

The Kennel Club advised that all affiliated clubs should adopt the code of ethics. Breed specific clauses were included by the Irish Wolfhound Club, and similarly by the Irish Wolfhound Society. We feel that this code encompasses what our members already are doing by way of caring for the health and welfare of their hounds. It would therefore seem reasonable that we also make this code mandatory for our members, and we therefore ask that the members support this motion. (See separate document for details)
Proposed by Linda Forret
Seconded by Bill Close
There was some discussion around the clause concerning bitches out on loan. It was felt by some that there are, on occasion, extenuating circumstances in which a loan agreement may be beneficial to all parties concerned. However, as it is discouraged, and not banned, it was felt that we can support the code in its entirety. As there is nothing in the code of ethics that, as responsible owners and breeders, we would not uphold, this motion was carried unanimously by the membership and will therefore become part of our constitution with immediate effect.

There being no other business notified to the secretary, the President thanked all those who had taken the time to attend, and the meeting was closed at 11.40