Yorkshire Golden Retriever Club Rules and Regulations
1. NAME AND OBJECTS
The Club shall be called the "Yorkshire Golden Retriever Club" and its objects shall be: -
(a) To encourage the breeding and type of Golden Retriever as laid down in the breed standard.
(b) To encourage the training and working of the breed.
(c) To run Shows and Field Trials
(d) (i) To encourage the elimination of hereditary defects known to be associated with the breed.
(ii) Members will be expected to abide by the Code of Ethics as published by the Club.
(e) To be for the benefit of its Members and not to be classed as a trading business so that all profits from any source, function and/or activity of the Club shall be maintained for the benefit of and for the further education of its Members, in the management, training, showing, breeding and every aspect pertaining to Golden Retrievers.
The Kennel Club shall be the final authority for interpreting the rules of the Club and in all cases relating to canine or Club matters.
2. OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE
2.1 The Club may have a Patron
2.2 There shall be a President who shall be elected by members at an Annual General Meeting on the recommendation of the General Committee and who shall remain in office during pleasure.
2.3 There shall be a Vice President who shall be elected by members at an Annual General Meeting on the recommendation of the General Committee and who shall remain in office during pleasure.
2.4 The Club shall consist of Patron, President, Vice President, Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and a Committee of twelve and an unlimited number of Members. Application for Membership shall be made on Membership forms, (obtainable from the Secretary)and duly proposed, seconded and signed by two fully paid up Members of the Club, which shall be submitted by the Secretary to the Committee, and shall be accepted on payment of the appropriate subscription and with the approval of a majority vote of the Officers and Committee.
2.5 No Officer of the Yorkshire Golden Retriever Club shall be an Officer of any other Kennel Clubregistered Society.
2.6 No officer of the Yorkshire Golden Retriever Club shall hold more than one executive position during anyone period of office, except on a temporary basis.
2.7 No person whilst an undischarged bankrupt may serve on the Committee of or hold any other office or appointment within a Kennel Club Registered Society.
2.8 Any Member may withdraw from the Club at any time on giving notice to the Secretary. Providedthat suchMember shall be liable for his/her subscription for the current year in which notice is given, and he/she shallhave no further claim upon the property or funds of the Club.
2.9 Honorary Life Members
A person may be elected an Honorary Life Member of the Club at a General Meeting on therecommendation of the General Committee. A member who has paid his subscriptions for 15 years ormore may be proposed as honorary life member of the Club. Notice of a proposal to elect an Honorary Life Member must appear on the agenda of a general meeting and ratified by embers present. Honorary Life Members shall have all rights and privileges of membership but shall not be liable to pay his subscriptions.
3. COMMITTEE
3.1 The management of the Club shall be in the hands of the Officers of the Club and Committeeconsisting of twelve Members. One third of the Committee, who shall have served the longest, shall retire on a three-year rotation, but shall be eligible for re-election to the Committee, if they so wish.
The Officers of the Club shall also retire on a three-year rotation, the order of retirement being - Vice Chairman and Secretary following year Chairman, third year Treasurer, but shall be eligible for re-election if they so wish.
3.2 Any member of the Club may propose any member as a candidate for the office of Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary, and Honorary Treasurer and/or for the ExecutiveCommittee, provided that the name of the candidate, together with the names of the Proposer and Seconder, be notified in writing to reach the Secretary by the 31st December. Theproposer shall be responsible for the consent of thenominee. Voting papers if required shall be franked and sent to every paid up member of the Club eligible to vote at least 28 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.
3.3 In the event of a vacancy on the Committee occurring between elections, the year of retirement to be the same as that when the vacancy would have occurred.
If several vacancies should arise during the year, the retirement year of any newly elected Committee Member shall be in the order of votes he/she received, i.e. the highest to serve the longestand the lowest to serve the shortest time. If elected unopposed the longest serving Committee Member/s, will serve for the full three year term, the length of service of further candidates shall be by secret ballot at the Committee meeting held immediately after the Annual General Meeting.
3.4 If any Member of the Committee shall have been absent from three consecutive meetings of the Committee without satisfactory explanation, his/her name shall be struck off the list of Committee Members and the Committee may co-opt a replacement.
3.5 The Committee shall have the power to co-opt fully paid up Members onto the Committee in the event of positions becoming vacant between Annual General Meetings. Those co-opted shall only hold office until the next Annual General Meeting of the Club at which election of Officers and Committee takes place.
3.6 No individual who has been a Member for less than twelve months may be elected onto the Committee.
3.7 The Executive Committee shall be empowered to create sub-committees for special circumstances, as may occur. At their first meeting after the Annual General Meeting the Executive Committee shall appoint subcommittees, the appointees shall resign annually butshall still be eligible for re-appointment if they sowish.
3.8 The Executive Committee shall also appoint a subcommittee consisting of a Field Trial Secretary and Field Trial committee for a three-year term; the appointees shall be eligible forreappointment if they so wish.
3.9 ‘Sub-committees shall consist of not more than eight persons, two of whom shall be members of the executive committee. The remaining six persons may be co-opted from the register of fully paid up members. ’Sub-committees shall report directly to the ExecutiveCommittee and may not represent the Club of its opinions other than with the written approval of the Executive Committee.
4. MEETINGS.
4.1 Meetings of the Committee shall be held at least five times per year, one of such meetings to be the day of the Annual General Meeting and previous to it, and the quorum for suchmeetings shall be eight to include at least two Officers.
4.2 The Secretary in conjunction with the Chairman shall have the power to summon a Committee meeting or a sub-committee meeting.
4.3 The Chairman shall only have a casting vote in the event of a tie-taking place and his/her ruling on any point shall be binding on the meeting. The Chairman shall preside at every meeting if possible. In his/her absence the Vice-Chairman will preside and will only have the voting rights of the Chairman.
5. VOTING RIGHTS
5.1 Each Member shall be entitled to one vote at Special and Annual General Meetings, immediately upon acceptance of Membership. Joint Members shall have one vote each. Junior Members shall not have a vote. Postal voting is allowed when electing Officers and Committee Members. This will be by secretballot. All other agenda items requiring a vote will be restricted to Members present at the Annual GeneralMeeting, a secret ballot may be held if the majority of Members present request it.
6. CLUB PROPERTY
6.1 The property of the Club shall be vested in the Committee. In the event of the Club ceasing to exist, a Special General Meeting shall be called to decide the disposal of the Club assets.
6.2 A final statement of the certifiedaccounts with a record of the disposal of the property of the club shall beforwarded to the Kennel Club within six months and the persons named as Officers and Committee of theClub on the last return furnished to the Kennel Club will be heldresponsible by the Kennel Club for the proper winding up of the Club.
7. TROPHIES
7.1 Cups and Trophies offered for the benefit of Members in competition will only be accepted on the understanding that they are the property of the Club.
8. CLUB ACCOUNTS/AUDITORS
8.1 A banking account shall be held in the name of the Club at Barclays Bank into which all revenue of theClub shall be paid and from which withdrawal shall only be made on the signatures of two from three Officers.
8.2 The Treasurer shall maintain the accounts and one qualified accountant or two unqualified individuals with accountancy experienceshall be appointed at each Annual General Meeting for thepurpose of certifying the Clubs accounts for the ensuing year. The Treasurer shall keep the certified accounts together with all relevant documentation, for a period of ten years.
9. SUBSCRIPTIONS
9.1 There shall be single, joint and junior (up to 16 years of age) rate of subscriptions being £8.00 single, £10.00 Joint, £1.00 Junior, which shall be due on 1st January each year. Persons from overseas wishing to join the Club shall become Members at the U.K. rate.
9.2 There shall be an annual subscription for membership, which will be reviewed from time to time by the executive committee for approval by members at the Annual General Meeting.
9.3 Subscriptions of members elected after 31st October shall be deemed to cover the following year.
9.4 No Member whose subscription is unpaid is entitled to any of the privileges of the Membership and if aMember shall fail to pay outstanding subscriptions by the end of February each year, his/her name shall bedependant upon a new application.
9.5 At least twelve months continuous Membership is required for entry to the Puppy Sales List.
10. EXPULSION OF MEMBERS
10.1 Any Member who shall be suspended under Kennel Club rule A42.j. (5) and/or any Member whose dog(s) is/are disqualified under Kennel Club Rule A42.j. (9) Shall ipso facto cease to bea Member of the Club.
10.2 If the conduct of any Member shall, in the opinion of the Committee of the Club be injurious or likely to be injurious to the character or interests of the Club, the Committee of the Club may, at a meeting the notice convening which includes as an object the consideration of the conduct of the Member, determine that a Special General Meeting of the Club shall be called for the purpose of passing a resolution to expelhim/her.
10.3 Notice of the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the accused Member, giving particulars of the complaint and advising the place, date and hour of the meeting, that he/she may attend and offer anexplanation. If at the Meeting, a resolution to expel is passed by a two-thirds majority of the Memberspresent and voting, his/her name shall forthwith be erased from the list of members, and he/she shallthereupon cease for all purposes to be a Member of the Club, except that he/she may, within two calendar months from the date of such Meeting, appeal to the Kennel Club upon and subject to such condition as the Kennel Club may impose.
10.4 If the Club expels any Member for discreditable conduct in connection with dogs, Dog Shows, Working Tests or Trials or Competitions, the Club must report the matter in writing to the Kennel Club withinseven days and supply particulars required.
11. FINANCIAL YEAR/ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
11.1 The financial year of the Club shall be from the 1st November to 31st October each year. The AnnualGeneral Meeting shall be held during the month of March.
11.2 Annual General Meetings shall be held to receive the report of the Committee and balance sheet, to elect Officers and Committee Members and to discuss any resolution duly placed on the Agenda, of which priornotice had been given to the Honorary Secretary.
11.3 Nominations for election of Officers and Committee must bear the signatures of nominee, proposer and seconder, all of whom must be fully paid up Members of the Club.
11.4 Propositions for discussion at the Annual General Meeting must also bear the signatures of proposer and seconder, who must be fully paid up Members of the Club.
11.5 No business shall be transacted at the 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. The Secretary must receive nominations and propositions by 31st December each year.
11.6 Notice and Agenda of such meeting will be given to Members in writing not less than 28 days before the Meeting.
12. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING
12.1 A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by Honorary Secretary if twenty five Members send a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed and requesting a Special General Meeting to do so; no business other than that on the Agenda can be discussed at a Special General Meeting.
12.2 The Committee of the Club is empowered to call a Special General Meeting at its discretion. Notice of such a meeting will be given in writing to Members not less than 14 days before the meeting.
13. AMENDMENTS TO RULES
13.1 The rules of the Club may not be altered except at a General Meeting or Special General Meeting, the Agenda for which contains specific proposals to amend the rules. Any proposed alteration to the rulesmay not be brought into effect until the Kennel Club had been advised and approved the alteration.
13.2 New rules and amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall be adopted immediately and included in the Clubs constitution with effect from the Annual General Meeting.
14. LEGAL COSTS
14.1 Officials and Members of the Executive Committee and any sub-committee shall be indemnified by the Club against any legal claims against them in connection with the properdischarge of their duties.
15. ANNUAL RETURNS TO THE KENNEL CLUB
15.1 The Officers acknowledge that during the month of January each year, maintenance of Title fees will be forwarded to the Kennel Club either by the Secretary or by Direct Debit, for continuance of Registration, and that by 31stJuly each year, other returns, as stipulated in Kennel Club Regulations for the Registration and Maintenance of Title of Societies and Breed Councils and the Affiliation of Agricultural Societies and Municipal Authorities, will be forwarded to the Kennel Club.
15.2 The Club must maintain an up to date list of members and their addresses, and if so requested, make the list available for inspection by the Kennel Club and Members of the Club. A declaration of the number ofmembers of the club must be made with the Annual Returns. The Officers also acknowledge their duty toinform the Kennel Club of any changes of Secretary of the Club, which may occur during the course of the year.
15.3 The Officers acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of the month in which the Clubs Annual General Meeting is held and to notify the Kennel Club of any subsequent amendments to the date.
16. THE KENNEL CLUB FINAL COURT OF APPEAL
16.1 The Kennel Club shall be the final court of appeal in all matters of dispute.
17. The Club shall not join any federation of Societies or Clubs.
March 2008
