NBTCA Biennial Meeting 8 Jun 13 held at DurackDogPark, Brisbane.

Meeting commenced at 1208.

Present: Paul Berman (President), Di Cross (Secretary), Lance Stephenson (BTC Qld), Heather Wright (BTC WA), Kerry King (BTC SA), Bernadette Marshall (BTM Vic), Norm Jessum (BTC Vic), T Wiseman (NDBTC), Vin Healand (ACTBTC)

Presidents Report: see attached

Secretarys Report: see attached

Election of Office Bearers:

As sent out via the Agenda the nominations for President and Secretary were the incumbents.

General Business:

1. Interbreeding continuation - Tony Wiseman raised the issue of the interbreeding continuing through the submission by an individual and not through the National Council. The Secretary explained the ANKC had contacted the NBTCA to see if the proposal had been seen by the NBTCA, which it hadn't. All delegates were very concerned that the ANKC had still approved the extension with no regard to it having gone through the NBTCA and member Clubs. Delegates agreed that the Secretary write to the ANKC regarding the issue but prior to this sending out a draft to all clubs.

2.CentralCoast Rescue - Lance Stephenson floated a proposal thatthe NBTCA donate some money to helping this organisation. After much discussion the delegates decided not to support the donation due to the business practices of the organisation.

3. ROM cards - Kerry Kingexpressed concernsabout the cost of ROM cards and the wastage of cards not used. The Secretary explained that the cost was minimal - 100 cards for about $15.

4. ROM judges - consensus was that we should have more judges and that older breeders should be encouraged to get their judges license. Also discussed was the inablility of some judges to award ROM cards on the day of a show. Secretary to contact all judges again and remind them of their responsibilities.

5. Judges Training Scheme - Tony Wiseman raised the issue of the scheme and the need for the training of aspirant judges - general discussion only.

Meeting closed: 1245

Congratulations go to the Queensland bull terrier club for holding a well organised & successful trophy show weekend with the greatest entries we have seen for a number of years. There was a friendly atmosphere around the grounds, with a number of international visitors & the dinner, dance & karaoke was a big hit with all that attended. I thought that the variety of good bull terriers of different breeding & type was improved from recent years & this showed in the selection of winners placed by the judges over the 2 shows.

As was evident over this weekend, its important to remember that the social aspect of shows & club activities, as well as competition, keeps all enthusiasts involved & enjoying participation in club activities & politics & personal grievances in public drive a lot of sane older & new valuable members away from our sport.

Some state bully clubs have been holding regular activities such as information & training days, members comps & bully walks etc. which do a lot to encourage the new & not so fiercely competitive bully lovers to be involved & get positive instruction from some more experienced breeders.

It would be good to see all clubs being proactive in promoting responsible dog ownership, as there is an increasing movement by a number of state governments in further changes in companion animal legislation & involvement by bodies such as RSPCA & animal welfare league in the drawing up & policing of these laws. State kennel control bodies are also endeavouring to be involved in the process as there is also issues such as breeding licencing & further dangerous breed restriction changes being talked about.

The risk of bad publicity from irresponsible dog ownership is something we can all play a small part in preventing, both individually & collectively as members of clubs educating & promoting the right way to socialise, breed & own dogs, & find the best homes for the puppies we produce, both for show & family members & pets .

Secretary's Report

Realistically the last two years have been the same as previous ones – and all the others preceding! Correspondence trickles in at a regular rate and I try to action it in a timely manner depending on my other commitments.However, generally at least one night a week is spent on the NBTCA.

So far this year I have processed7ROM applications – 2 x BT (Aust), 3 x BTM (Aust) and 2 x BT (NZ) with 94 cards sent to clubs. In 2012, 13 ROM’s were processed (8 BT and 5 BTM) with 193 cards being distributed.

The current status is that in Australia there are 231 ROM Bull Terriers, 85 Bull Terrier (Miniature) and in NZ -25 ROM Bull Terriers.

After the release of the 4th BT book at the last Trophy Show the sales of the book were quite rapid for a couple of months. However in the last 10 months only a few books have been sold. Currently there are 4th x 158, 3rd x 9, and 2ndx 29 books available for sale.

With regard to ROM cards - clubs need to apply for ROM approval for their judge BEFORE they actually contract the judge.The approval process becomes very time consuming if the club doesn't provide a CV that shows the judge meets our ROM approval criteria. All too often I need to go back to Club Secretary's for them to get further clarification of when, where and what the judges have judged. The rules are clearly laid out and are available on the NBTCA website.

I would also like to add that I do have a steady number of phone calls regarding breeders. The most common complaints are the lack of paperwork from breeders and health problems. Unfortunately all to the often when I ask if they have been in contact with the breeder they say they have, but have either been ignored or been abused. It is very disappointing to get these calls and surely doesn’t throw a good light on breeders as a whole.

Once again thanks for your support.

Di Cross