Chairman: Mr Patrick McGlynn - Secretary / Treasurer: Miss Jaci McLauchlan - Public Relations Officer: Mrs Veronica Brown
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Breed Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
PRO'S REPORT ON THE MEETING HELD AT THE COACH AND
HORSE, MARKFIELD LEICESTERSHIRE ON
SATURDAY 5TH MARCH 2011
The Chairman opened the meeting at 11.03am. There were 11 clubs represented, Downlands, East Anglia, East Midlands, North East , North West, Notts and Derby, North of Scotland, Potteries, Southern
Counties, The Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club and Western. Apologies were received from Alyn and Deeside, Morecambe Bay and Cumbria, Northern Counties and South Wales. The Secretary had not heard from Merseyside or the Scottish clubs. Apologies were also received from the PRO.The minutes of the meeting held on the 16th October 2010 were agreed and signed.
In the absence of the PRO, Helen Reaney the KCBLO kindly took notes of the free discussion period which are as follows.
A discussion was held on the subject of judges who appear to disregard the height requirement when judging our breed. The breed standard does state 14-16 inches desirable, the word desirable could be interpreted as leaving the whole height issue open. Concerns were expressed as to the view this could give the general public who were wishing to purchase a puppy, as many people are now asking for king staffords etc. With some judges preferring a taller stafford, this could be seen as misleading to the public as to the true height a stafford should be. The point was made that surely the Breed Council, clubs and Championship Show judges must lead the way in judging to the correct standard.
The Health Liaison Officer highlighted the probelm that many veterinary practices do not know what the standard is, and felt education both for them and the public is a must.
Concerns were raised over the increased levels of blues registered in the BRS, but more importantly the number of bitches have more than 10 in a litter. The KC do write to those that have registered more than 10 in a litter and ask them to provide documentation to say that the pups are from the same dam and in some cases request dna testing takes place. It is an ongoing problem and will take a long time to sort out, but at least the KC are being proactive.
Rescue, the problems of which are well documentated is at breaking point, North East is inundated with staffords coming into rescue and now overflowing, and this results in some cases staffords having to be put to sleep. The problem is highlighted all over the country with East Anglia and Southern Counties not taking in anymore and asking those owners to hold onto their pets until a sitable home can be found.
The pigmentation of blue Staffords was raised and the Breed Health Co-ordinator informed the meeting that there were many issues regarding pigmentation of the blue from noses to eyes and nail colour etc, and other health issues, and was sure that this would be dicussed at further meetings.
As there was no other business the meeting closed at 1.50pm.
The Next meeting is on Saturday 15th October 2011, at the new venue of The Fieldhead Hotel, Markfield Lane, Markfield, LE67 9PS.
Veronica Brown,
Public Relations Officer.
