The Whippet Breed Council held a meeting at the Sports Connection at Ryton on 29th July 2018. This is a synopsis of the meeting by the Chairman Ann Beckett-Bradshaw:
I was delighted to be able to commence this meeting with a full complement of all 11 whippet breed clubs! The Northern Ireland whippet club have not been in attendance for some years and I was very pleased to be able to welcome their representative to the council meeting.
Also in attendance as our guests were the Sporting Whippet Club and, to my delight, several observers. To keep the Breed Council working efficiently we must involve ‘the future’. We have a duty to encourage and guide those who express an interest, so that they are primed and prepared to continue in the best possible way.
In April, the Breed Council notified the Kennel Club of several unauthorised changes to the English version of the FCI whippet Breed Standard. After consultation with the FCI, the Kennel Club informed the Council of the FCI’s response and advised the Council on the way forward. It was pleasing to have the support and guidance, along with timely responses from the Kennel Club regarding these changes.
The whippet Club of Italy had attended the Whippet Conference in USA with a beautifully prepared flyer, outlining their plans for a whippet conference in 2022, so if the UK has any intention of organising a whippet conference, it is clear that planning must begin soon, to be ready for the future!
The web site, ably managed by Mark Smith has had a revamp and a change of web address. Unfortunately, the old address is still working (although it doesn’t do anything other than load the opening page) so please take note that the new and correct address is www.whippetbreedcouncil.com . Updates will continue to appear on our Facebook page too – The UK Whippet Breed Council.
One of the main subjects which had been proposed in advance, was a change to the breed standard regarding the colour Merle. A few years ago, the Kennel Club had invited the Council to address this, but the vote had been for the standard to remain as it was. At that time, it was considered that there was little likelihood of there being any issue, as Merle is not a colour inherited by whippets. However, the council was more recently made aware that there were in fact, whippets registered with this anomaly in Europe. All eleven Breed Clubs voted in favour of sending an application for change to the standard regarding colour.
The Whippet Of The Year was discussed. Sadly, as there had been no offers to organise this event from (either) a club or any group of individuals, the decision was made to suspend WOTY until further notice.
There was an interesting presentation by Pam Marston-Pollock, regarding the JCF. Pam outlined her role as the whippet Breed Education Coordinator (BEC) and explained to the Breed Council how the education of upcoming whippet judges will proceed.
Jo Whitehead gave us an update on matters to do with health and heart screening. Serious consideration should be given to re-testing whippets, and continuing to screen them, particularly as they move through veteran and into the older age groups. Only when more of this information is made available will there be a clearer picture to those collating the data.
The late Edith Newton was a staunch supporter and valued member of the Whippet Breed Council for many years. Almost 30 years ago, at her request as Breed Council secretary, I sent my own judging CV to her. As a mark of both respect and remembrance, the Breed Council stood for a minute’s silence, remembering also other whippet ‘people’ who had sadly been lost this year.
I felt the meeting was enthusiastic and positive and although a tremendous amount had been achieved, it was felt that a further meeting should be held this year. The date was set as 14th October 2018 and as before, any individual who would like to attend as an observer, will be welcomed and should notify either myself, or Russell Sykes, so that we can send them the details.