11/2014

Safety at Shows

Exhibitors are asked to be mindful of safety issues involving cats that are not happy to be at shows. The UTH/UTJ Rules are under revision and the proposed new rules (from the Programming Committee Meeting) will be voted upon at the meeting on 27 May. As the changes involve our duty of care to handlers (vets, judges, stewards, exhibitors) they do not have to wait until September, but can be introduced as soon as the clubs approve the recommendations of the PC meeting.

The changes mean that an exhibit behaving in an aggressive manner can be banned for life after an incident (reports will be investigated on the day).

In order to reduce stress on entire males, as well as females, any queen showing she is "on call" during vetting in may be refused entry, so exhibitors are urged to leave strongly calling females at home. We realise that a queen may come on call during the day, but it is hoped that preventing entry of those those arriving in that condition will help alleviate the situations that may be triggered by them.