Bylaws Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. Edition 10/21/2007 Preamble The founding members of the registered German Shepherd Association Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. do in fact no longer consider the original purpose of the Association for German Shepherds Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) e.v. sufficiently fulfilled to breed the German Shepherd as a utility dog. Initiated by Dr Helmut Raiser, they founded the Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. in order to support the preservation of the cultural value of the German Shepherd as a utility dog more efficiently. In the following 10 Articles the founding members establish the guidelines of their Purebred Dog Breeders Association. Article 1 The registered German Shepherd Association Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. considers itself heir to the ideals of the founder Max von Stephanitz: The German Shepherd shall be bred as a multi-purpose utility dog. Article 2 Defined utility dog characteristics are indispensable and must be preserved. Article 3 Tasks and objectives of utility dog breeding must be brought in line with external general conditions. Article 4 Sustained education and training as well as the application of scientific progress in breeding and training methods are considered to be prerequisites and contribute to preserve the German Shepherd as a utility dog.
Article 5 The entire spectrum of the standard shall be exhausted by using the instruments that direct breeding. The amplitude of the genetic pool forms the basis of our breeding and shall consequently be preserved. Article 6 All measures that direct breeding require a transparent documentation and objective evaluation of the unique utility dog characteristics of the individual animal. Article 7 The creative potential of competing interests shall serve the purpose of common goals. Mutual acceptance is based on communication structures which facilitate the recognition and resolution of common problems. Article 8 The top position of the German Shepherd as a utility dog shall be demonstrated at the Siegerprüfung of the Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. Article 9 The achievements of dog handlers shall be appreciated in accordance with their impact on breeding toward the preservation of the cultural value of the German Shepherd. Article 10 Training shall be considered to be animal protection, guided by the functionality of the dog and the ethical principles of human conduct towards animals. 1 Name, Headquarters, VDH membership, Common public interest, Business year (1) The name of the association is Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v.. (2) The headquarters of the association is located in D-34346 Hann. Münden. (3) The association is organised and directed in accordance with legal and democratic principles. (4) The association applies for membership in the German Kennel Club (VDH). The Bylaws
and Regulations of the VDH attached to this statute shall also be binding upon the Association as far as they concern VDH member associations. In detail, this includes: - VDH Bylaws as amended on 02/19/2006 - enclosure 1 - - Bylaws of the Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) - enclosure 2 - - General Provisions of the FCI - enclosure 3 - - Show Regulations of the FCI - enclosure 4 - - International Breeding Regulations of the FCI - enclosure 5 - - Regulations of the FCI for show judges - enclosure 6 - - Admission Requirements to the VDH - enclosure 7 - - Honorary Board Rules of the VDH - enclosure 8 - - Bylaws for General Meetings of the VDH - enclosure 9 - - Organisational Regulation of the VDH - enclosure 10 - - Rules of Arbitration of the VDH - enclosure 11 - - Scale of Expenditures of the VDH - enclosure 12 - - Breeding Regulations of the VDH - enclosure 13 - - Breed Show Regulations of the VDH - enclosure 14 - - Breed Judge Regulations of the VDH - enclosure 15 - If admitted as a member of the VDH, the Association shall submit to and accept all rules of the Club decided by the VDH executive committee, the meeting of members of the VDH as well as the FCI regulations; furthermore the Association shall commit itself to adapt its Bylaws and Regulations to those of the VDH within 24 months after enforcement of the respective amendment unless other periods are agreed to. During the time of adaptation, conflicting regulations shall no longer be applied. (5) The Association shall exclusively and directly pursue public-benefit purposes in the sense of the section Tax-privileged purposes of the Fiscal Code. The association shall act selflessly; it shall not primarily pursue economic purposes of its own. Funds of the association shall only be used for the public-benefit purposes that accord with the Bylaws of the Association. Members of the Association shall receive neither shares in profits nor, in their capacity as members, any other grants from the funds of the Association. No person shall be favoured with expenditures foreign to the purposes of
the Association or by exceptionally high remuneration. Holders of Association offices shall act in an honorary capacity. (6) The Association shall reserve the right to run all the meetings, elections and votes not related to a modification of the Executive Board and the Bylaws by using electronic means. (7) The business year shall be the calendar year. 2 Purpose and Tasks of the Association, Definition of Utility Dog (1) The Association shall promote the breeding of the German Shepherd in accordance with the F.C.I. Standard No. 166 (attached to this statute as enclosure 16) and its use as utility dog. To fulfil this task it is indispensable to encourage continuous training and instruction of dogs and dog handlers as well as to apply scientific progress of breeding and training methods to preserve the German Shepherd as a utility dog. (2) The Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. shall pursue the following definition of utility dog: A utility dog is an efficient and skilled working dog. By virtue of its drive qualities and constitution this dog can be instructed and utilised to fulfil versatile tasks. The utility dog constitutes a value in itself. To preserve it and its genetic resources shall form part of the care of cultural value. Working dog. Due to the dog s innate behaviours and capacities people use it to support their own work. By doing so, people assume the right to put the dog at their disposal. From the beginning of domestication, this was the basic motive of humans to enter into symbiosis with the dog. This anthropocentric approach is favourable to the animal in such a way as it obtains the potentiality to act upon its drives and cognitive capacities. Efficiency. A particular quality of the work is necessary to expose the efficiency of the utility dog. It is determined by physical and psychical components. To claim efficiency implies the development and examination of these capacities. These efforts are conducted within the limits of ethical animal protection.
Ability. The utility dog owns the required prerequisites to be instructed. These prerequisites are not necessarily to be exhausted. When using the dog as strictly a social and companion dog, it must be allowed to enjoy itself in addition to receive the necessary instruction. The instinctive or drive qualities describe the psychical components of the constitution. They determine kind and development of the functions and reactions. The varied purposes of use of the utility dog require different drive qualities. The drive determinants of behaviour result from the fundamentals of preservation of the species: hunger, sexual drive, escape, aggression. Composition and degree of specification determine the purpose of use. Constitution. It is determined by components like drive qualities, anatomic overall structure, vitality, longevity, mobility, strength and endurance. They all have to match the respective utilisation. By man. Having acquired the right to utilise the dog, people took over responsibility. We are obliged to breed, nourish and instruct the dog in order to enable the animal to fulfil the respective tasks within the context of ethical animal protection. Particular importance has to be attached to the preservation of genetic resources. Different tasks. The variance spectrum of drive qualities and constitution effect the variety of applications people use according to their respective needs. Trained. The utilisation of the utility dog requires its training. This training channels its natural drive behaviours into the desired conduct. Such a process is based on the ethological cognition as well as the cynological and empirical knowledge. Man s right to influence the natural conduct of the dog in order to form and control it for determined purposes also implies compulsive acts. By doing so, commensurability has to be observed. Overcoming conflicts while being trained shapes the dog s personality. In addition to that, the training of utility dogs has relevance to breeding. It serves to select appropriate animals by carrying out defined examinations and make them available to breeders. (3) The Association shall take care of preserving the utility dog s qualities despite historical changes in the areas of application, from herding dog tending flocks to service, guard and sports dog. (4) Health and functionality of the utility dog in accordance with the definition shall be the guiding principles for hygienic breeding and training measures. (5) Breeding and training shall exclusively serve to achieve the breeding objectives established by the definition of the working dog. Progress in science shall be taken into account. The training and breeding rules shall determine the details.
(6) The Association shall create information transparency by offering an Internet site in order to enable its members to take responsible decisions regarding training and breeding. (7) Necessary regulations issued to achieve the Association s objectives shall not intend to restrict the freedom of the members more than necessarily. (8) The Association shall support its members by offering regional Competence Centres (CC). These shall serve to assist the members with training and breeding. The training and breeding rules shall determine the details. (9) The Association shall fulfil its tasks respecting the animal protection laws. 3 Association Rules (1) The Breeding Rules attached as enclosure 17 and the Honorary Board Rules attached as enclosure 18 shall form part of these Bylaws. Amendments to these rules shall be considered amendments of the Bylaws according to 8 h. The stipulations of the Breeding Rules and the Honorary Board Rules are not meant to substitute the minimum standards of the VDH Breeding Rules (enclosure 13) or the VDH Honorary Board Rules (enclosure 8). (2) In addition to that, the Association shall make available: a) the Training Rules with guidelines b) the Evaluation and Breed Survey Rules c) the Rules for Breed Warden d) the Breed and Performance Judge Rules e) the Breed Show Rules f) the Trial Rules g) the Meeting Rules h) the Scale of Charges and Fees
i) the Scale of Expenditures. According to 10 2 b, the Executive Board shall decide on amendments of mentioned rules by simple majority. These rules shall only be binding for the members as long as they will have been determined prior to the situation to be ruled and published on the Internet site. 4 Membership (1) Every natural and legal person, authority, federation or any other corporation may become member of the Association, if they accept the objectives of the Association and refrain from violating the Bylaws (including the regulations of the VDH) by being member of another association. (2) Dog traders, their family members and persons living in their household shall be excluded from membership. Particular attention is directed at 17 sections 5 and 6 of the enclosed VDH Admission Rule. Applicants for membership who have been excluded from another VDH member association are subject to 6 section 7 of the VDH Statute. (3) The Executive Board shall decide on the written application for membership not later than 6 weeks after its receipt. (4) With the admission, every member shall accept the Bylaws and the Rules indicated in 3, as well as the resolutions. With the admission, the member shall acquire the right to use all facilities and installations of the Association. In addition to that, the member shall acquire active and passive voting rights with admission. (5) The members shall be obliged to pay membership fees as well as a one-time enrolment fee. The amount of these fees shall be determined by the Executive Board and shall be published on the Internet site of the Association. The first Subscription Scale of these Bylaws is attached as enclosure 23. An increase of the membership and admission fees shall be decided and published not later than September of the current year and
applicable to the year to come. (6) With the admission, the member shall agree that personal and cynological information relevant to the Association may be accessible to other members in the members-only secure area of the Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. Internet site. (7) The member shall be obliged to carry liability insurance for every dog being his/her property that will participate in an event of the Schäferhundverein RSV2000 e.v. (8) The membership shall terminate in case of voluntary resignation, cancellation, exclusion, death, or dissolution of the Association. (9) A voluntary resignation is only possible by the end of a calendar year. The Executive Board shall receive the notice of resignation in writing not later than October 31 of the respective year. (10) A membership shall be cancelled if the member is culpably in default of paying the membership fees or other financial obligations for more than one year. The decision of cancellation shall be made by the Executive Board. (11) According to 12 and in connection with the Honorary Board Rules, a member can be excluded from the Association. 5 Sponsors Sponsors shall be passive members without the right to vote. The supporting contribution shall be half the amount of the fee to be paid by full members. Additional payments shall be treated as donations and used for Association purposes. 6 Association Bodies
The Association Bodies shall be: a) General Meeting, b) Executive Board, c) Honorary Board. 7 General Meeting / Extraordinary General Meeting (1) An annual General Meeting shall be held in the second quarter of the year. The date of the General Meeting shall be announced on the Internet site of the Association not later than three months in advance. (2) Persons entitled to call a meeting shall be: a) members of the Executive Board, b) breed and performance judges, c) office-holders of the Competence Centres (CC) and d) full members, if their requests are supported in writing by at least 5% of the members. (3) Applications with supporting documentation shall be submitted in writing to the Executive Board not later than eight weeks in advance. (4) The Chairperson of the Executive Board shall issue notice for the General Meeting four weeks in advance, indicating the agenda on the Internet site of the Association. (5) Regardless the number of participating members, every General Meeting shall constitute a quorum. (6) Each member of the Executive Board and each participating full member shall have one vote.
(7) The General Meeting shall not be held publicly. The Executive Board shall be entitled to admit non-members. (8) The General Meeting shall be directed by the Chairperson, or in the case of his/her absence, by the Vice-chairperson of the Executive Board. The recorder shall be determined by the Chairperson. A non-member, too, can be nominated recorder. (9) The General Meeting shall take its decisions on the basis of the simple majority of valid votes; abstentions shall not be taken into account. Resolutions on amendments to the Bylaws as well as the deposition of an Executive Board member upon good cause shown shall require a two-third majority vote, the dissolution of the Association a ninetenth majority vote. (10) The decisions of the general Meeting shall be recorded in writing; these minutes shall be signed by the Chairperson and the recorder. The minutes shall include: - place and date of the meeting; - Chairperson and recorder; - the number of the attending members; - the agenda; - the results of the votes and - the method of voting. In case of an amendment to the Bylaws, the wording of the amended regulations shall be entered into the minutes. As soon as possible, the minutes shall be published on the Internet site of the Association. (11) The Executive Board shall call an extraordinary General Meeting if this is in the interests of the Association or if one-tenth of all members submit a written demand indicating the reasons for the request. Basically, the same rules shall apply to the extraordinary General Meeting as mentioned above; however, the deadline according to 7 section 1 shall be reduced to 6 weeks, the deadline according to 7 section 3 to 4 weeks and the deadline according to 7 section 4 to 2 weeks.
8 Responsibilities of the General Meeting (1) The General Meeting shall be the highest body of the Association and in charge of: a) acceptance of progress reports issued by the Executive Board members, b) acceptance of the Treasurer s report, c) authorisation of the financial plan for the following business year prepared by the Executive Board, d) discharge of the Executive Board, e) election of the Executive Board, f) election of the Honorary Board members and their substitutes, g) election of the Treasurer, h) amendments to the Bylaws, i) dissolution of the Association, k) dismissal of an Executive Board member due to an important reason. (2) In matters which fall within the area of responsibility of the Executive Board, the members shall be entitled to decide on recommendations to the Executive Board. 9 Executive Board (1) The Executive Board members shall be: a) Chairperson b) Vice-chairperson c) Director of Training and Breeding (LAZ) d) Secretary e) Treasurer.
(2) The Association shall be judicially and extrajudicially represented by two members of the Executive Board, one of them being the Chairman or the LAZ. (3) The General Meeting shall elect the Executive Board for a period of 6 years, reelection shall be possible. The Executive Board shall remain in office until new elections are held. (4) Only those members belonging to the Association for at least 4 years shall be eligible. (5) If an Executive Board member resigns during the term of office, the subsequent General Meeting shall be obliged to hold a special election valid until the end of term of the respective Executive Board member. Before the special election is held, the Executive Board can assign temporarily a member of the Association to substitute for the resigned Executive Board member. (6) The LAZ shall be entitled to nominate a deputy who will take over individual tasks during the current transactions; in case other Executive Board members are not available for any reason, the Executive Board shall decide to appoint a deputy. (7) The Executive Board shall make decisions in such meetings as are called by the Chairperson or his substitute. Notice of such meetings and their agendas shall be given two weeks in advance vial electronic means. (8) The Executive Board shall constitute a quorum if more than half of the Executive Board members are present. Resolutions shall be passed by a simple majority of the valid votes. (9) The Executive Board shall be entitled to take decisions by written procedure outside of Executive Board meetings if no Executive Board member contradicts. (10) The decisions made by the Executive Board shall be put into writing and require the signature of the Chair of the meeting. The meeting minutes shall include place and date of the Executive Board meeting, names of the participants, decisions taken as well as the ballot result.
10 Responsibilities of the Executive Board (1) The Executive Board shall be in charge of the Association s business affairs. The Executive Board shall be responsible for all matters that are not expressly reserved for the General Meeting by the present Bylaws. (2) In particular, the Executive Board shall be responsible for a) representation of the Association in all legal and other matters, b) decisions on rules mentioned in 3 section 2, c) execution of current transactions, d) issuance of directives to employees of the Association, e) administration of Association funds as well as the presentation of financial statements in the General Meeting, f) disposition of Association funds, g) approval of a local club to become an autonomous subdivision of the Association, h) nomination and dismissal of judges and other office-holders, i) regulatory measures according to 12 section 2, k) Internet presence of the Association. (3) The Executive Board shall be entitled to adopt rules of procedure which determine the rights and obligations of the Executive Board members as well as specific areas of responsibility. In general, the areas of responsibility and decision making of the Executive Board members shall be shared as follows: a) the Chairperson shall be responsible for the organisational management of the Association; b) the Vice-chairperson shall be responsible for the administrative tasks transferred to him/her by the Executive Board; c) the LAZ shall be responsible for the area of training and breeding; d) the Secretary shall write the minutes of the Executive Board meetings which are
to be signed by the Chairperson and the LAZ, and shall be in charge of the correspondence and the Internet presence; e) the Treasurer shall be in charge of financial administration. 11 Reimbursements, expenses, liabilities (1) All offices held in the Association shall be honorary posts. Disbursements and expenses incurred within the framework of the office holder s duties shall be reimbursed in accordance with the Scale of Expenditures. (2) Executive Board members and other delegates of the Association who during the exercise of their duties cause damage to the Association, Association members or third parties, shall only be held liable if they acted wilfully or grossly negligently to the disadvantage of the aggrieved party. The Association shall exempt the author of damage towards third parties as mentioned above. 12 Rules of the Association (1) With the objective of guaranteeing principles of public benefit and maintaining the internal and external order, the Association shall take regulatory measures against members and officeholders who culpably counteract the Bylaws, Rules or purposes of the Association. The matter can only be brought before an ordinary court within a period of one month after notification of the final decision on the part of the Association. (2) The Executive Board and the Honorary Board shall be entitled to impose the following regulatory measures:
a) warning, b) censure, c) a fine of up to 2,000.00, d) temporary or permanent exclusion from breeding and participation in events, e) suspension of member rights, f) temporary or permanent exclusions from the Association. A combination of these measures shall be permitted. (3) Exclusion from the Association shall only be permitted in cases of gross or repeated infringements against the objectives of the Association, its Rules or practices of good fellowship. (4) Every member shall be entitled to notify the Executive Board of misconducts. This notification shall be presented in writing and personally signed, indicating the relevant facts and including the corresponding evidence. It shall be the decision of the Executive Board to institute proceedings. The Executive Board shall be entitled to initiate regulatory measures without previous notification if it has personal knowledge of the misconducts. Before imposing regulatory measures, the Executive Board shall give the member the chance to give an explanation in writing, setting an adequate time limit of at least three weeks. The decision on regulatory measures must be well-founded and communicated to the member by registered mail. (5) The member shall have the right to appeal the decision of the Executive Board before the Honorary Board. The appeal shall have a delaying effect, if the immediate suspension of the member rights has not been ordered. The appeal has to be filed in writing before the Executive Board within a period of one month after receipt of the decision. Subsequently, the Executive Board shall have to present the file to the Chairperson of the Honorary Board within a period of two weeks, including a statement for further proceedings. (6) In case of its own involvement the Executive Board has the right to proceed before the Honorary Board.
(7) The proceedings before the Honorary Board will be conducted in accordance with the Honorary Board Rules which are part of these Bylaws. 13 Dissolution of the Association (1) The Association can only be dissolved by a General Meeting especially called for this purpose. The meeting shall have to be called at least three months in advance. A participation of two thirds of the members shall be necessary to decide on the dissolution of the Association. If the General Meeting called does not have a quorum, another General Meeting shall be called no later than four weeks after the date of the initial meeting. The new General Meeting shall be held no earlier than two nor later than four months after this date. (2) There shall be no quorum requirements for the newly called General Meeting. This is to be specifically referred to in the invitation letter. (3) In case of a dissolution of the Association or a cessation of tax-privileged purposes the funds of the Association shall be accrued to the Gesellschaft zur Förderung Kynologischer Forschung e.v., to be used directly and exclusively for public benefit, charitable or parochial purposes. 14 Transitional Regulations 9 section 4 shall become effective as of 01/01/2012. The Bylaws are made available to you as downloadable PDF documents. To open PDF
documents you will need AcrobatReader, available free from Adobe. Vorstehende Übersetzung aus der deutschen Sprache ist von mir gefertigt worden in meiner Eigenschaft als allgemein ermächtigter Übersetzer der englischen Sprache nach dem mir vorgelegten und beigefügten Originaldokument. Ich bescheinige die Übereinstimmung der englischen Übersetzung mit dem Wortlaut des Originals in der deutschen Sprache. Kassel, 14.05.2008 Dieter Niemeyer Vereidigter Dolmetscher und ermächtigter Übersetzer der englischen Sprache