S.E.A. RULES

1. NAME AND OBJECTS

The Association shall be called the Southern Eurasier Association (UK) and its objects shall be:

The protection and furtherance of the interest in the Eurasier in the South of England. The Association is dedicated to following the original philosophy of the German founders of the breed. Volume breeding is therefore not to be supported, as the Eurasier was bred to be a family companion dog.

To accept the Standard of the breed and urge its adoption by breeders, judges and exhibitors as the standard of excellence towards which the breed should be bred as well as judged.

Should the majority of members wish to apply for registration of title with the Kennel Club and the application to be successful, any points referring to the Kennel Club and its requirements will become valid.

2. OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE

The Committee of the Association shall consist of a Chairperson, a Secretary, an Honorary Treasurer, a Vice-Chairperson, and a Committee of up to 8 further Members.

The management of the Association shall (except as otherwise provided in these Rules) be in the hands of the Committee. One officer and two Committee Members shall retire annually on rotation, but, if eligible, may offer themselves for re-election. If an insufficient number of Members are retiring on that basis, the required additional Committee Members shall be drawn by lot.

The Committee shall meet at least once every 6 months to examine the accounts and to arrange the affairs of the Association. Five Members of the Committee shall form a quorum. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt from among the Members of the Association to fill vacancies or for any other purpose, and shall have the power to appoint Sub-Committees.

A Committee Member must have served at least 1 year before being eligible for election as an Officer.

Those co-opted shall only hold office until the next Annual General Meeting of the Association at which an election of Officers and Committee takes place.  No individual who has been a Member for less than two years may be elected onto the Committee.

All retiring Officers and Committee Members wishing to stand for re-election must notify the Secretary in writing (to include electronic correspondence such as e-mail and fax), stating which office they wish to stand for where applicable, at least 14 days prior to the Annual General Meeting. New nominations, either as an Officer or Committee Member, must be proposed and seconded by two current members and confirmed by the written agreement to stand of the person concerned, and should reach the Secretary at least 14 days before the Annual General Meeting. A complete list of candidates, together with the names of proposers and seconders, shall be circulated to members with the Agenda of the Annual General Meeting. Voting shall be by those members present at the Annual General Meeting.

Any Committee Member may resign from the Committee at any time by giving notice in writing to the Secretary. In case of the Secretary resigning, this should be given to the Chairperson.

A member of the Committee absent continuously for more than a year shall have his/her attention drawn to the fact, and their position on the Committee will be considered by the remaining Committee members.

Each officer and Committee member will ensure they conduct themselves in a manner befitting the office they hold and maintain the Code of Ethics of the Association. If they are found to be in breach of any of the Association's Rules or Code of Ethics, the remainder of the Committee will take a vote to see if that individual should remain in post or asked to relinquish it. It is the Secretary's responsibility to communicate the Committee decision to the Individual.

3.  MEMBERSHIP

Any person interested in the breed of dog known as the Eurasier, whether an owner of a dog of that breed or not, shall be eligible for membership provided that their application for membership has been made in writing on the relevant form to the Membership Secretary accompanied by her/his first subscription and has been accepted by the Committee.  If accepted, the applicant will be notified of their admission to the membership and sent a copy of the Rules and Code of Ethics. If the application is rejected, the applicant will be so informed and the subscription refunded.  (No reason for rejection need be given.)

All notices required by these Rules to be given to Members of the Association may be given by email to the email address provided by the Member, or by prepaid letter addressed to a Member at the last address which he has furnished to the Membership Secretary.

Every Member shall be bound by and submit to these Rules and the current issue of the Code of Ethics shall for all purposes be deemed to be a part of these Rules.  A Member shall not by reason of their membership be under any financial liability except for payment of their annual subscription.

Any member may resign from the Association on giving notice in writing to the Secretary. A member leaving the Association shall not be entitled to receive back any money which may have been paid to the Association or on account of the Association, during their membership, or have any claim against the Association.

An up-to-date list of Members and their addresses must be maintained and, if so requested, be made available for inspection by the Kennel Club. A declaration of the number of Members of the Association must be made with the Annual Returns.

4.  SUBSCRIPTIONS

The annual subscription shall be such amount as agreed by Members in a General Meeting and notified to the Kennel Club.  All subscriptions are payable to the Treasurer by the 1st  January in each year.

No Member whose subscription is unpaid is entitled to any of the privileges of membership and if the Member shall fail to pay outstanding subscriptions by 1st  February their name shall be automatically erased from the register.  Acceptance back onto the register will be dependent upon a new application.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a first subscription received during the last 3 months of a year shall be deemed to include the subscription for the whole of the following year.

5.  VOTING RIGHTS

A Member who joins before her 16th birthday shall be a Junior Member and shall not be entitled to vote in the election of Officers and Committee nor upon any motion at any General Meeting of the Association.  All other Members shall for the purpose of these Rules be Full Members. A Junior Member shall not become a Full Member until their 16th birthday or until they have paid a Full Member’s subscription, whichever is the later, but they shall be liable to pay a Full Member’s subscription on the first occasion on which their subscription falls due after their 16th birthday.

Two Members of the same family or two people owning one or more dogs in partnership may be joint Members for the purpose of Rule 3, but each Member of such joint membership shall nevertheless be a Junior Member or a Full Member as defined in the Rule. In the case of joint memberships, each individual is entitled to one vote providing they are Full Members.

Each Full Member shall be entitled to one vote at a General Meeting provided their application for membership has been received and accepted by the Committee by 31st December of the year prior to the General Meeting.

Any Full Member may be elected a Life Member by a two-thirds majority of those voting at an Annual General Meeting of the Association but they shall not thereby cease to be a Full Member. A Life Member shall not be a Member of a joint membership. 

Voting at all meetings shall be by a show of hands of people in attendance. 

At all Committee and General Meetings of the Association, the Chairperson or Vice Chairperson, or in their absence a Chair elected from the Committee, shall have a second or casting vote, in the case of equality of votes.

6. CLUB ACCOUNTS

A banking account shall be held in the name of the Association into which all revenues of the Association shall be paid.  It shall be operated by the Treasurer. Cheques shall be signed or endorsed on behalf of the Association by any two Members of a panel of three signatories: the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.

A PayPal Account shall be held in the name of the Association.

The accounts of the Association shall be kept by the Treasurer and shall be certified annually and presented to the Members at the Annual General Meeting. The certification shall take place as soon as practicable after the end of the financial year, and be carried out by one qualified accountant or two unqualified individuals with accountancy experience, in accordance with Kennel Club requirements.

The Financial Year of the Association shall run from 1st January to 31st December.

7. CLUB PROPERTY

The property of the Association shall be vested in the Committee and in the event of the Association ceasing to exist a Special General Meeting shall be called to decide the disposal of any assets.  The Kennel Club is to be notified of all action taken.

The donor of any trophy shall be required to sign a paper acknowledging that such cup or trophy is an outright gift to the Association.

8. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

An Annual General Meeting shall be held as early as possible in the New Year, and not later than 30th May each year. The date, time and location shall be fixed by the Committee to conduct the following business:

·       to receive the reports of the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer

·       to receive the Association's audited accounts

·       to elect the Officers, Committee and Auditor/s

·       to consider and, if approved, sanction and duly make alterations to the Rules (including the  Code of Ethics)

·       to discuss any other items on the Agenda

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 Chairperson of the Meeting, are urgent.

A written notice (email accepted) giving the date, time and venue of the Annual General Meeting shall be sent to all Members of the Association at least 28 days prior to the meeting date.

Any member can request an item be put onto the Agenda for public discussion.

All items for the Agenda of the Annual General Meeting must be received by the Secretary at least 14 days prior to the Meeting. The Agenda will be circulated no later than 7 days before the Meeting.

A quorum for the Annual General Meeting shall be ten people.

Any decision taken at an Annual General Meeting shall be valid and binding for the whole of that year and cannot be the subject of a Special General Meeting during that year.

9. AMENDMENTS TO RULES (INCLUDING CODE OF ETHICS)

The Rules of the Association may not be altered except at a General Meeting, the notice for which contains specific proposals to amend the Rules.  Any proposed alteration to the Rules may not be brought into effect until the Kennel Club has been advised and approved the alteration.  For the purposes of this Rule the Code of Ethics shall be deemed to be a part of these Rules.

New Rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall be adopted immediately.

10.  SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by the Secretary if no fewer than 25 Members send a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed and requesting a Special General Meeting to do so. The Committee of the Association is also empowered to call a Special General Meeting.

Notice convening the Special General Meeting shall be sent to the Members not less than 14 days before the meeting and shall specify the matters to be dealt with. No business other than that detailed on the agenda can be discussed at a Special General Meeting.

A quorum for a Special General Meeting shall be 20 people.

11. WINDING UP

In the event of the Association ceasing to exist for any reason, a Special General Meeting shall be called to decide upon the disposal of the Association's assets. The Kennel Club shall be notified as soon as a decision is made to wind up the Association and, within six months of such date, shall be supplied with a final statement of audited accounts and a record showing disposal of all the Association’s assets.

The persons named as Officers and Committee of the Association on the last return furnished to the Kennel Club will be held responsible by the Kennel Club for the proper winding up of the Association.

12. BREED ASSOCIATION JUDGES' LISTS

Should the majority of members wish to apply for registration of title with the Kennel Club and the application be successful, the Association shall produce a Judges' List each year, which will be valid from 1st January to 31st December. The list will be sent to all Championship Shows and those Open shows that request it.

The Committee can elect a Judges' Subcommittee to deal with these affairs.

Applications for inclusion on the Judges' List will be put before the Committee or Subcommittee at the earliest meeting. All applicants will be required to meet a set form of criteria, which will be reviewed annually.

13. ANNUAL RETURNS TO THE KENNEL CLUB

Should the majority of members wish to apply for registration of title with the Kennel Club and the application be successful, the Officers acknowledge that during the month of January each year, the Maintenance of Title fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club by the Secretary for continuance of Registration of Title. 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, shall be forwarded to the Kennel Club by 31st July each year.

The Officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of any changes of Secretary of the Association which may occur during the course of the year.

14. KENNEL CLUB FINAL AUTHORITY

Should the majority of members wish to apply for Registration of Title with the Kennel Club and the application be successful, the Kennel Club is the final authority for interpreting the Rules of the Association in all cases relative to canine or Association matters.