Club Constitution and Rules download a copy here

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1. Name and objects: The club shall be called The Pyrenean Sheepdog Club of Great Britain and its objects shall be to foster and promote the breed in Great Britain and to impress upon the exhibitors and judges the true type as defined by the breed standard; to protect the interest of the breed; to retain and encourage its working abilities and to assist members whenever possible in matters relating to the breed. 

2. Officers and Committee: The Club shall consist of a President, Hon Secretary, Hon Treasurer and a committee of ten and an unlimited number of members.

3. Committee: The management of the Club shall be in the hands of the committee who shall be elected to serve for three years (one third of whom shall retire annually) but shall be eligible for re-election without nomination. 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. 

The President shall serve for three years and will be eligible for re-election after that period. The President may attend committee meetings but will have no vote.

The Hon Secretary and Hon treasurer shall be ex-officio members of the committee with the right to vote and shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election without nomination. The Hon Secretary, Hon Treasurer and committee members shall hold office from the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting at which elected to the conclusion of the following AGM.

Officers and committee members of the club must not be officers or committee members of any other club solely devoted to the Pyrenean Sheepdog.

The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the committee shall be elected by the committee from amongst the committee members at the first committee meeting held after the Annual General Meeting. In addition to a vote as a committee member, the Chairperson shall also have a casting vote.

Committee meetings shall be held as often as deemed necessary by members of the committee. Five shall form a quorum for the transaction of business, one of whom should be an officer.

The committee shall have the power to appoint sub committees.

Any member of the committee failing to attend three consecutive meetings of the committee without a reasonable explanation, shall be deemed to have resigned. The committee shall have the power to co-opt members to replace those who have ceased to be members of the committee, with due regard to unsuccessful candidates at the last election. Co-opted committee members shall have voting rights unless seconded for a specific purpose.

Should the Hon Secretary or Hon Treasurer resign from their positions during the first three months of their term of office, nominations and a postal ballot of members will take place to elect replacements. Should these officers resign their positions after the first three months of their term of office, the committee may appoint a temporary/acting Hon Secretary or Hon Treasurer. At the subsequent election of officers, the acting secretary or treasurer must be proposed and seconded in the usual way.

The Hon Secretary shall be required to summon and attend (except in an emergency) all meetings and be responsible for keeping minutes of any such meeting in a proper minute book and to conduct the correspondence of the club.

4. Membership: All applications for membership of the Club shall be made in writing to the Treasurer on the appropriate form prescribed by the committee and be accepted on payment of the subscription

Joint members shall be two members of the same family or two persons who own a Pyrenean Sheepdog in partnership and each joint member shall enjoy the benefits of individual membership. 

Honorary members shall be nominated unanimously by the PSD committee and shall enjoy the benefits of individual membership.  They will not pay an annual subscription

Junior members, who must be under 18 years of age, will be entitled to membership but will not be eligible for election as officers or committee members and shall not have voting rights. Overseas members shall be deemed to be associate members, receiving all copies of Newsletters etc. but not voting papers. 

The committee reserves the right to refuse any application for membership; any such refusal must be a majority vote.

Each member shall be entitled to one vote after 6 months membership.

An up to date list of members and their addresses, and those of branch members where appropriate, must be maintained and, if so requested, made available for inspection by the Kennel Club and members of the Club. A declaration of the number of members of the club must be made with the Annual returns.

5. Subscriptions: The annual subscription payable on application, or 1st January each year shall be Single £12.00, Joint £18.00 and Junior £2.00. The subscription of any new member joining after 1st October shall be valid for the following year.

No member whose subscription is unpaid shall be entitled to any of the privileges of membership and if the member should fail to pay the annual subscription by 31st January, his/her name shall be automatically erased from the register. (Acceptance back on the register will be dependent upon a new application and payment of arrears. Any member who wishes to resign shall notify the Secretary in writing of his/her intention to do so and will thereby forfeit any subscriptions paid to the Club up to that date).

6. Expulsion of members: Any member who shall be disqualified under Kennel Club Rule A11j (5) and/or under Kennel Club Rule A11j (9) shall ipso facto cease to be a member of the club.

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 expel him/her.

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 so that he/she may attend and offer an explanation. If at the meeting, a resolution to expel is passed by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting his/her name shall forthwith be erased from the list of members and he/she shall thereupon 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.

If the Club expels any member for discreditable conduct in connection with dogs, dog shows, trials or competitions, the Club must report the matter in writing to the Kennel club within seven days and supply any particulars required

7. Annual General Meeting: The financial year of the Club shall be from 1st January to 31st December.

The Annual General Meeting shall be held before the 31st March for the following purposes:

a) To receive the report of the Committee and Balance Sheet, to elect officers and to discuss any resolutions duly placed on the agenda of which prior notice has been given to the Hon Secretary. 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.

b) Notice of such meetings will be given to fully paid up members in the Club’s official Newsletter and website and may be publicised in the papers Dog World and Our Dogs.

c) There will 42 days notice of the AGM.

d) Items for inclusion on the agenda are required by the Secretary 28 days before the meeting, as are proposals for an officer or committee member. Only a member who has been a member for at least one financial year prior to being elected or co-opted, is eligible for nomination for an office or the committee and must be proposed by one member and seconded by another.

e)      The agenda will be circulated at least 14 days before the meeting.

In the event of there being more nominations than vacancies, a vote will take place. A voting paper will be sent to each member at least 14 days prior to the meeting and returned 7 days before the meeting. These voting papers on which members must record their votes must be returned for counting by impartial scrutineers by the date stated on the voting paper. The sealed envelope, in which the results are recorded, will be opened in the presence of the members at the AGM. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared by the Chairperson to the officers and committee members for the ensuing year. In the event of the same number of votes being recorded for any two or more candidates for the last place on the committee, a final decision between these candidates will be made by a ballot of the members present at the meeting.

8. Special General Meeting: A Special General Meeting shall be summoned by the Hon Secretary if fifteen members send a signed requisition stating the subject to be discussed. The committee of the Club is also empowered to call a Special General Meeting. No business other than the matter on the agenda can be discussed at a Special General Meeting. Members shall receive 14 days notice of a Special General Meeting. This notice may be given by publication in the papers Dog World and Our Dogs and in the Club’s official Newsletter or website if this meets the specified time schedule. Fifteen shall form a quorum at the meeting.

9. Club Property and Dissolution: The property of the Club shall be vested in the committee. If at a Special General Meeting called for such purpose a resolution for the dissolution of the Club shall be passed by a majority of the members present, then the members present at such a meeting may decide upon the disposal of the assets of the Club after discharging all the liabilities of the Club, save that the trophies which have been donated to the club, shall be disposed in accordance with the wishes of the donors or the executors of the donors if such wishes are known at the time of dissolution. If this should prove impracticable then the value of the trophies may be realised and the proceeds donated to a suitable canine charity or service selected by the committee. A final statement of accounts with a record of the disposal of the property of the Club shall be forwarded to the Kennel Club within six months and the persons named as officers and committee of the Club will be held responsible by the Kennel Club for the proper winding up of the Club. Written acknowledgement will be obtained from donors of cups and trophies that are given as outright gifts to the Club.

10. Club Accounts: A bank account and, if deemed necessary, a building society account shall be opened in the name of the Club into which all revenue of the Club shall be paid and from which withdrawal shall only be made on the signatures of two or more officers as appointed by the committee, one of whom shall be the Treasurer. The accounts shall be kept by the Hon Treasurer and a qualified accountant shall be appointed at each Annual General Meeting who shall audit the Club’s accounts for the ensuing year to be presented to the members at the Annual general Meeting. Those certifying the accounts must be independent of the committee.  The certified accounts will be made available on request to members fourteen days prior to the AGM.  All Club expenditure must be submitted in detail to the committee and authorised by a majority vote. This authority is to be obtained whenever possible by the Treasurer before payment is made but where this is not possible the expenditure must not exceed £250.00 and must receive the approval of the committee at the next meeting.

11. Amendments to Rules: The Rules of the Club shall not be altered except at an Annual General Meeting or Special general Meeting the notice for which contains specific proposals to amend the rules. Any alterations to the Rules shall not be brought into force until the Kennel Club has been advised and given its approval to such alterations. New rules or amendments introduced specifically to meet Kennel Club requirements shall be adopted immediately.

12. The Judging Lists: The Club must produce a list of Judges each year, which must be submitted to the Kennel Club as part of the Club’s Annual Returns. The purpose of the Judging List is to indicate to interested parties, those persons a Club would support at differing levels of judging. Membership of the Club must not be a prerequisite for inclusion in the lists. Judges Lists should be divided into three parts namely A3, B and C and must indicate the date on which the list will expire. On expiry a new list must be completed.

A3 List-Judges recommended by the Club as being suitable to award CCs in the breed, but not yet approved by the Kennel club for inclusion on an A2 list.

B List-Judges approved by the Club to judge at shows without CCs or Open Shows.

C List-Aspiring judges who do not fall into either of the above categories.

Such lists should be prepared by a Judges Sub-Committee. For breeds without CCs, the Judges Sub-Committee members should be experienced judges within the breed. Judges Sub-Committee members need not be members of the Club committee. Lists compiled are not subject to ratification by the committee or membership of the Club. It is recommended that such Lists be prepared by secret ballot of the Club’s Judges Sub-Committee and Clubs must clearly indicate to members the method by which persons may be nominated for inclusion in the ballot and indicate the judging experience necessary of a person’s name in the Lists.

13. Annual Returns to the Kennel Club: The officers acknowledge that during the month of January each year, Maintenance of Title fee will be forwarded to the Kennel Club by the Treasurer for continuance of registration, and that by 31st July 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 shall be forwarded to the Kennel Club. If returns cannot be forwarded prior to 31st July, the officers acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club accordingly. The officers also acknowledge their duty to inform the Kennel Club of any changes of Secretary of the Club which may occur during the course of the year.

14. The Club:  Shall not be classed as a trading business, so that all profits from any source, function or activity of the club shall be maintained for the benefit of the breed and for the further education of the members in the management, training, showing, breeding and all aspects pertaining to the improvement of the breed.

15. No Person: Who can be shown to have knowingly exported Pyrenean Sheepdogs, or any other breed of dog to any country, which does not have legislation for the protection of animals similar in intent to such laws in Great Britain, and which does not have a reciprocal agreement with the Kennel Club, shall be accepted for membership shall be dealt with under rule 6. The committee shall consider their continued membership in the light of the circumstances.

16. No Dealer: Shall be accepted for membership of the club, neither shall any member sell puppies or adult dogs to a dealer. The word "Dealer" is to be defined as someone who buys and sells puppies and adult dogs for commercial gain, other than the direct progeny of his / her own stock. The only exclusion to this rule would be the clubs own recognised rescue / welfare societies.

17. The Kennel Club Final Authority:  The Kennel Club is the final authority for interpreting the rules and regulations of the club and in all cases relative to canine matters and club matters. 

18. The Club: shall not join any Federation of Societies or Clubs

 

August 2018

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