Dobermann Breed Council Rules

Rules & Objectives of the Dobermann Breed Council

1.  
  1 To foster the interests of the breed in the United Kingdom.
  2 To act as secretarial liaison between the Clubs to avoid clashing dates for shows, functions etc.
  3 To agree and maintain one judging list for Championship Shows (A1 & A3); B & C lists, and only
    judges from these lists should be used by member Clubs with the exception of those judges who are
    covered. by Rule 14 (aa)
  4 To act for the Dobermann Breed Clubs, as a whole, in negotiations outside the breed.
  5 To maintain the Breed Standard, always bearing in mind that the Dobermann is a working dog.
  6 To appoint a representative to sit on the Kennel Club Liaison Council.
2.  
    The Officers of the Breed Council shall be:-
  a) A Chairperson of independence elected from either within or outside the breed. The Chair shall be
    responsible to the member Clubs for the day to day running of the Breed Council and shall have
    discretionary powers to add items to the Agenda. The Chair shall have full control of the meetings
    and have the authority to approve the minutes of meetings before publication.       
  b)  A combined Secretary/Treasurer, who shall not be the Secretary of any existing  Dobermann Club. 
    The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible to the Chair and shall at all times work closely with
    him/her in liaising with member Clubs.
  c)  Election of Vice-Chairman. To select from the member clubs representatives, a Vice-Chairman, to
    ensure continuity in the case of an emergency.  Person to be elected annually.
  d)  The Officers acknowledge that by 31st July each year, returns as stipulated in the Kennel Club
    Regulations for the Registrations and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Municipal Authorities
    will forwarded to the Kennel Club. The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel
    Club of any change of Secretary of the Breed Council which may occur during the course of the
    year.
3.    
  a)  The election will take place at the Annual General Meeting; retiring Officers may stand for re-
    election and should indicate their willingness in writing to seek re-election by the closing date for
    items to be placed on the Agenda.
  b)  The representative of the KCLC for the Dobermann Breed Council should be the incumbent
    Chairperson, any retiring Chairperson shall automatically resign the position of KCLC/DBC
    representative.
  c)  One or more Auditors shall be elected annually at the first meeting held after the Annual General
    Meetings of the Member Clubs.
  d)   Any Member Club wishing to nominate any person (other than the retiring Officer) to be an Officer of
    the DBC must send nomination to the Secretary of the DBC 6 weeks prior to the AGM meeting to be
    sent to the Member Clubs:
FIRSTLY:
 a written notice stating the name of the person nominated and the office for which nominated and
SECONDLY
 written conformation signed by the person so nominated that he or she is willing to accept      
nomination for such office

THIRDLY:

Secretary of the DBC should then send out separately a ballot paper containing the nominated
  names, position that is being stood for and CV of the person standing, to go to all clubs along with
  the Agenda of the said meeting.
FOURTHLY This ballot paper should then be returned by the Clubs by Recorded Delivery post /email to the
  Secretary of the DBC no later than 1 week (7 days) before the said meeting.  This will allow the
  Secretary time to notify the winning candidate in writing and invite them along to the meeting to
  take over their newly elected position.  In the event of a tie the Chairman shall have the casting
  vote.
4.   MEMBERS OF THE BREED COUNCIL:-
  a)  Each Club may elect two representatives to serve on the Council.
  b)   In the event of a representative from any Club being unable to attend a meeting, the said Club has
    the right to appoint any committee member as temporary representative.
5.   OBSERVERS AT THE BREED COUNCIL:-
    Each Club may send up to a maximum of two observers who shall not join in the discussion except
    at the discretion of the Chairperson.
6.     MEETING OF THE DOBERMANN BREED COUNCIL:-
  a) The Annual General Meeting to be held prior to the first general meeting held after the Annual
    General Meetings of the Member Clubs. The council shall meet up to three times a year, in March,
    June and November, although dates may be varied at the discretion of the Chairperson if
    exceptional circumstances arise and a majority of member Clubs signify agreement.
  b)  Special meetings
      If two or more Clubs apply to the Secretary in writing, giving details of the subject to be discussed,
    at the discretion of the Chairperson a Special Meeting may be held. 14 (fourteen) days prior notice
    must be given to the other member Clubs. The meeting must be held within 6 (six) weeks from the
    receipt of the application.
7.   QUORUM:-
    At all meetings a quorum shall consist of:-
  a)   Where 4 or 5 Member Clubs exist  ~  6 persons representing at least 3 clubs.
  b)    Where 6 or 7 Member Clubs exist  ~  8 persons representing at least 4 clubs.
  c) Where 8 or 9 Member Clubs exist  ~  10 persons representing at least 5 clubs.
  d) Where 10 Member Clubs exist        ~ 10 persons representing at least 6 clubs.
8.     VOTING AT MEETINGS:-
  a)   On each motion there will be one vote per Club and resolutions will be carried by a simple majority.
    All member Clubs should implement such resolutions.  Each motion on the DBC Agenda should be
    put to the Clubs committee members to vote on at the meeting prior to the meeting of the DBC. This
    should be carried by a simple majority.  Only in exceptional circumstances, i.e. information
    disclosed at the DBC meeting, should the club representative have their committee’s consent to
    change a vote on the day.
  b)   Neither the Chairperson nor the Secretary/Treasurer nor observers are entitled to vote except that,
    in the case of equality of votes by the member Clubs, the Chairperson only shall be entitled to a
    casting vote.
9.    CALLING OF BREED COUNCIL MEETINGS:-
  a)  Items for the agenda will be received by the DBC Secretary 6 (six) weeks prior to the meeting.
  b)   The agenda for each meeting shall be sent to Club Secretaries 4 (four) weeks before such meetings.
  c) Notice of all meetings and the Agenda’s shall be e-mailed.
10.   MINUTES OF MEETINGS:-
    Within one month following the date of each meeting of the Council, the Secretary/Treasurer shall
    send by first class mail, 1 (one) copy of the minutes of that meeting to the Secretary of each
    member Dobermann Club and one copy to the Chairperson.
11.    FINANCES:-
   a)   The financial year of the Breed Council shall be from 1st January until 31st December
  b) A Bank Account, in the name of the Dobermann Breed Council, shall be opened by the      
    Secretary/Treasurer.  All cheques must bear the signature of both the Chairperson and the
    Secretary/Treasurer.
  c)  Each member club will pay an annual membership fee payable on or by the first meeting of each
    year. The amount of the DBC Annual Membership fee will be agreed at the last meeting of the year.
  d) Any club in arrears in the payment of membership fees shall not be eligible to attend meetings until
    such payments have been received by the Secretary/Treasurer.
  e)  In the event of any member Club ceasing to function or resigning from the Breed Council, they shall
    not be entitled to claim repayment of the membership fee, or any part thereof, for the then current
    year.
  f) In the event of the Council ceasing to exist, and after payment of all outstanding debts, all assets
    shall be equally divided amongst all member clubs.
  g) A balance sheet, for the previous year, shall be sent to each member club Secretary included with
    the agenda for the Annual General Meeting. 
    h) A qualified accountant or two unqualified individuals with accountancy experience must carry          
    out Certification of accounts.
12.    CORRESPONDENCE:-
    All correspondence from Clubs must be addressed by the Club Secretaries to the        
    Secretary/Treasurer of the Breed Council and vice versa, with a copy to the Chairperson.
13.      SHOW DATES:-
    When show dates are confirmed, Club Secretaries should inform the Council Secretary/Treasurer    
    as soon as possible so that all Clubs can be circulated.
14.    JUDGE’S LIST:-
    The purpose of the Breed Council’s Judge’s List is to indicate to interested parties those persons
    the Breed Council would support at different levels of judging. At any Breed Council meeting names
    forwarded by the Club Secretaries shall be considered for addition to the Judge’s List provided that
    the Council Secretary receives details in time for such names to be stated on the agenda. Those
    forwarded by their Clubs must complete the approved DBC questionnaire, supplying their Club
    Secretary sufficient copies to allow one for each member Club and one each for the DBC Secretary
    and the DBC Chairperson. When completed, all copies to be sent to the DBC Secretary for
    distribution to the member Clubs along with the agenda.
15.     AMENDMENTS TO THE DOBERMANN BREED STANDARD:-
    The Breed Standard shall not be changed until each member Club shall have had at a General
    Meeting, an opportunity of obtaining from its members their views on any amendment to the Breed
    Standard. If, from time to time the Council shall consider that any alterations or additions to the
    Breed Standard would be of benefit to the Breed, then the recommendations should be sent to the
    Kennel Club with the request that the change be approved.
16.    NEW DOBERMANN CLUB:-
    Any properly constituted Dobermann Club may join the Dobermann Breed Council.
    Applications for membership should be sent to the Secretary/Treasurer who will include the details
    on the Agenda of the next meeting, provided that the details are received in time.
17.     EMERGENCY PROCEDURE:-
    In cases where a decision or action is required from the Council without the calling of a meeting, the
    Officers are to act in accordance with the best interests of the Dobermann.  The Council shall have
    the power to deal with any matters/questions relating to the management of the DBC not provided
    for in these Rules.
18.     The Chairman shall be required to write an annual report at the end of the year to each member
    Club for use at their AGM’s if they so wish.
19.   The Rules of the Breed Council may not be altered except at an Annual General Meeting, notice of
    which includes details of the proposal to alter the Rules.  Such alterations shall not be brought into
    force until the Kennel Club has been advised and has given its approval of the alterations.  New
    Rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall adopted
    immediately and be included in the Breed Council Constitution with effect from the Breed Council
    Annual General Meeting.  No business shall be transacted at an Annual General Meeting unless
    notice thereof appears on the Agenda, with the exception of routine matters or those,  which in the
    opinion of the Chairman of the meeting are urgent.  These Rules must be strictly adhered to at all
    times.
20.      SUB-COMMITTEES:-
    Any member of a Dobermann Breed Council sub-committee or any other type of Dobermann Breed
    Council committee who are no longer a member of a member Breed Club’s committee,
    automatically stand down as a member of said Dobermann Breed Council committee.
21.   The Kennel Club is the final authority for interpreting the Rules and Regulation of the Breed Council
    in all cases relative to Canine or Council matters.
22.   Breed Council should not join any Federation of Societies or Clubs.
23.    No person, whilst an un-discharged bankrupt, may serve on the Committee of or hold any other
    office or appointment within a Breed Council.

            

Amended July 2008              

 


ALL TEXT AND IMAGES © DOBERMANN BREED COUNCIL.