In an effort to engage rank and file exhibitors, breeders, show organisations and those who participate in the more active disciplines the Kennel Club has devised a system of Liaison Councils to advise the Kennel Club’s General Committee on matters of concern to their speciality. Each Kennel Club Liaison Council is made up of a panel of delegates, the number governed by the Kennel Club, who are closely associated with that particular discipline.

The Kennel Club Liaison Council – Breeds is the Council in which every breed may participate, with each Kennel Club recognised breed electing one representative, who must be acceptable to all registered Breed Clubs for that breed, to serve on the Kennel Club Breeds Council of Representatives for the appropriate group with each serving a three year term. In breeds that support a Breed Council the representative is usually picked from within its Member Clubs, where no Breeds Council is constituted the Representative is generally chosen by a ballot of Breed Clubs organised by the senior or parent society.

The Kennel Club Liaison Council – Breeds draws its 30 delegates, spread over all the Groups, from these representatives, their election being by a ballot of delegates from each group. With only four or five delegates to represent each group on the Kennel Club Liaison Council – Breeds once elected each are charged with promoting the interests of the whole of the group they represent, rather than just their breed.

 

Any Breed Representative may submit items for the Kennel Club Liaison
Council – Breeds’ agenda and as long as another breed will second an
item the KCLC – Breeds will discuss it at the next twice yearly meeting.
Items frequently need to be referred back to Breed Representatives who
will report back to their sponsoring organisation, be that Breed Council or
Breed Clubs, with their deliberations reported back to the Liaison Council,
before they in turn will pass their recommendations to the Kennel Club
General Committee who may accept or reject as they consider appropriate.

 

The current Rough Collie Breed Council, Mrs Lyn Westby, was first
elected as the Rough Collie Representative to the Kennel Club
Breeds Council of Representatives in 1997, and in the same year
the delegates from the Pastoral Group elected her to represent that
Group on the Kennel Club Liaison Council – Breeds Council.

Recent items supported and/or initiated by the Rough Collie Breed
Council have included:

A request that the present ‘Working Group’ be split due to size

Intervals between judging appointments at all levels (Group and Breed)

Junior Warrants and Kennel Club Stud Book Entries

Single Challenge Certificate allocations

Separate scheduling of a Champions Only class at Breed Club Shows

Show Certificates of Merit and Cruft’s qualifiers from General/Premier Open Shows