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© CoonTICA 2005

1 Name

The name of the club shall be CoonTICA.

2 Aims

2.1 Affiliation

The club shall be affiliated to TICA (The International Cat Association).

2.2 Club Objectives

2.2.1 The objectives of the club shall be:

• To sponsor and promote the welfare of all breeds of cats, including household pets (mixed breeds) but especially the Maine Coon;
• To sponsor cat shows and special programs and otherwise promote the interest in and knowledge of all domestic cats, with special emphasis on the Maine Coon;
• To cultivate friendship among and promote the interest of the owners, fanciers, and breeders of cats;
• To encourage breeding toward the TICA Standards and encourage the registration of cats within TICA;
• To promote and encourage kindness to all animals and to assist in the prevention of cruelty and maltreatment of animals;
• To encourage the spaying and neutering of any and all cats not specifically being used as part of a viable breeding program in order to reduce the excessive trend to over-population of, and tragedy among, unwanted domestic cats.

2.2.2 The club is intended primarily to serve the interest of owners, fanciers, and breeders of Maine Coon cats registered with TICA in the United Kingdom by holding two TICA shows a year, ideally with Maine Coon congresses.

3 Membership

3.1 Application for Membership

3.1.1 Persons interested in membership of the club shall apply to the Secretary after completing an application form.

3.1.2 All membership applications shall be approved by the Club Committee using a simple majority vote.

3.1.3 The Committee may refuse membership to any person without being required to provide a reason.

3.1.4 The Secretary shall contact each applicant to inform them if their application has been successful or not.

3.1.5 Anyone who has been convicted of animal cruelty or been banned or suspended from keeping animals by a court of law shall not be eligible for membership.

3.2 Classes of Membership

The following classes of membership shall exist:

3.2.1 Individual (non MC-Breeder) Membership

3.2.2 Joint (non MC-Breeder) Membership

3.2.3 Breeder Membership

3.2.4 Joint Breeder Membership

3.2.5 Junior Membership.   Junior members must be under 18 years of age at the time of joining or renewal.   A Junior member does not have a vote at club meetings.

3.2.6 Any member(s) joining before 1 October 2005 can become a Founder Member by a one-off payment of £10 (individual) or £15 (joint) to the club when joining.   Founder Members may use this designation so long as they remain members of the club.

3.3 Conditions of Membership

3.3.1 It shall be the duty of each member to uphold the objectives of the club.

3.3.2 Members are expected to fulfil carefully the terms of all transactions concerned with cats, such as sale, stud fees and pedigrees, whether such transactions are carried on with other club members or breeders or the public at large.

3.3.3 Anyone with a registered cattery name and who registers Maine Coon kittens is required to be a Breeder member.

3.3.4 Members undertake neither to sell or give their cats/kittens to pet shops or other retail outlets nor to supply cats/kittens for experimental purposes.

3.3.5 Members undertake not to sell or re-home kittens unless they have fully completed a course of vaccinations against cat flu and enteritis.

3.4 Membership Subscriptions

3.4.1 Membership subscriptions shall be payable annually on 1st July each year or upon joining the club.

3.4.2 A member joining in the 3 months prior to 1st July is not required to pay any further subscription until the 1st July of the following year.

3.4.3 Membership subscriptions shall be:

£7.50 per annum for Individual (non MC-Breeder) Members
£9.50 per annum for Joint (non MC-Breeder) Members
£13.50 per annum for Individual Breeder Members
£15.50 per annum for Joint Breeder Members
Junior Members pay £2 per annum less for the appropriate class of membership

3.4.4 A one-off joining fee of £1.50 per member will be charged to cover administration costs.

3.4.5 Members not renewing their subscription by 1st August shall be sent two reminder letters (either by post or by email) at monthly intervals

3.5 Termination of Membership

Membership of the club shall be terminated by one of the following:

3.5.1 A letter of resignation sent to the Secretary either by post or by email.

3.5.2 Failure to pay their membership subscription by 1st October.

3.5.3 Completion of disciplinary action by the club committee, where the severity of the breach of rules justifies membership termination.

3.5.4 No membership fees shall be refunded upon membership termination.

4 Committee and Club Officers

4.1 Committee

4.1.1 The management of the club shall be conducted by a committee consisting of not less than five (5) members and not more than nine (9) members.

4.1.2 All committee members must have ready access to email and to the Internet to enable them to conduct club business.

4.1.3 The committee members chosen at the inaugural meeting shall serve for an initial period until the first AGM of the club, when they shall all offer themselves for re-election to the committee.   Committee members shall then be elected to the committee at Annual General Meetings and shall serve for a term of three years.

4.1.4 At each subsequent AGM, one-third of the committee shall retire but shall be immediately eligible for re-election at that AGM without requiring a proposer or seconders.   At least two but not more than three committee members shall retire at each AGM.

4.1.5 The retiring members of the committee shall be either any committee member appointed under rule 4.1.8 or the longest serving committee members.   Should more than one-third be eligible to retire, those to retire shall be agreed by the committee or, if no agreement can be reached, chosen by lot.

4.1.6 If no other nominations are received for a committee vacancy, then the retiring committee member may be declared re-elected without the necessity for a vote.

4.1.7 Immediately following an AGM, the committee shall agree amongst themselves the allocation of committee members to Officer positions.

4.1.8 Should a committee member resign from the committee between AGMs, the committee is empowered to appoint a replacement.   The replacement committee member shall then serve until the next AGM, when he/she shall retire under rule 4.1.4.

4.2 Committee Powers and Liability

4.2.1 The Committee shall manage the affairs of the club according to this Constitution and shall cause the funds of the club to be applied solely to the objects of the club or for a benevolent or charitable purpose nominated by General Meeting.

4.2.2 The Committee shall make Byelaws for the operation of the club as it shall from time to time think fit and then publicise them to the members.   Such Byelaws shall remain in force until approved or set aside by a vote of a General Meeting of the club.

4.2.3 The Committee, or any person or sub-committee delegated by the Committee to act as agent for the club or its members, shall enter into contract only as far as expressly authorised, or authorised by implication, by the members.   No one shall, without the express authority of the membership in General Meeting, pledge the credit of the membership.

4.2.4 In pursuance of the authority vested in the Committee by members of the club, members of the Committee are entitled to be indemnified by the members of the club against any liabilities properly incurred by them or any one of them on behalf of the club wherever the contract is of a duly authorised nature or could be assumed to be of a duly authorised nature and entered into on behalf of the club.

4.2.5 The limit of any individual member's indemnity under 4.2.4 shall be a sum equal to one year's subscription at the then current rate of that category of membership unless the committee has been authorised to exceed such limit by a General Meeting of the club.

4.3 Officers

4.3.1 The club shall have the following Officers:
a President
a Vice-President
a Secretary
a Treasurer
a Recording Secretary
a Counsellor
a Webmaster

4.3.2 At the discretion of the committee, the posts of Secretary, Recording Secretary, Webmaster and Treasurer may be combined with other posts.

4.3.3 All Officers must be members of TICA.

4.4 Duties of Officers

4.4.1 The President shall preside at all meetings of the members and of the committee and shall perform such other duties as are incidental to his/her office. He/she shall be an ex-officio member of all committees.

4.4.2 The Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President in the absence of that officer.

4.4.3 The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the members and the committee and shall present them at ensuing meetings when requested.

4.4.4 The Secretary shall keep an attendance record and a list of all members in good standing with their names, mailing addresses (postal and email) and telephone numbers. He/she shall notify the members of AGMs or EGMs, advise applicants for club membership of the action taken on their application and be responsible for all other club correspondence.

4.4.5 The Treasurer shall receive and have custody of all monies and shall deposit same in one or more bank accounts in the name of the club. He/she shall keep an account of all receipts and expenditures and shall render a financial report at each regular meeting. He/she shall provide names and addresses to the Secretary of all membership dues paid.

4.4.6 The Counsellor shall be a member who is familiar with the Association, club, and show procedures and be able to guide and advise the club whenever assistance is needed or whenever the Counsellor feels that the club is not acting in the best interest of the fancy as a whole or is failing in some obligation to TICA.

4.4.7 The Webmaster shall be responsible for maintaining the club website, including new content as agreed by the committee, and promoting the club website through appropriate search engines and directories.

4.4.8 On or before April 1 of each year the President, Secretaries, and Treasurer shall make an annual report to TICA which report shall include a list of members of the club with their addresses, a report of any shows held during the year, a copy of the financial report of the club for the year and such other information as may be required by TICA

5 Club Assets

5.1.1 Club assets remain the property of the club.   Assets may be held by Committee members on behalf of the club.

5.1.2 Club assets shall include, but not be limited to: financial accounts and records; minute books; show records; membership records; Yahoo (or equivalent) mailing lists for use by club members; Internet domain names and club web-sites.

5.1.3 Any bank accounts shall be in the name of the club, and requiring the signature of one officer for any cheque issued up to and including £250 in value, and requiring the signature of two officers for any cheque issued greater than £250 in value.

5.1.4 On ceasing to be a committee member, each member agrees to promptly hand over in good condition any club assets in their keeping to another committee member.

6 Meetings

6.1 Committee Meetings

6.1.1 Whenever possible, the business of the club shall be transacted by email.

6.1.2 Voting on business shall be by majority vote.   Each committee member shall have one vote. In the event of a tie, the Club President shall have an additional casting vote.

6.1.3 On notification of a vote, committee members have 10 calendar days in which to respond with their vote.   No response shall be treated as an abstention.

6.2 Annual General Meetings

6.2.1 AGMs shall be held at least once a year and no more than 15 months apart.

6.2.2 AGMs shall, whenever possible, be timed to coincide with a show put on by the club.

6.2.3 A preliminary notice of the AGM (including calls for nominations or proposals) shall be provided to all members at least 60 days before the meeting.

6.2.4 All proposals and nominations should be sent to the Secretary at least 35 days prior to the meeting either by post or by email.

6.2.5 Each proposal or nomination must be proposed by a member and seconded by at least two members.   Seconders may not reside at the same household as the proposer.

6.2.6 Nominations for any committee vacancy shall include a signed statement by the nominee that they are willing to stand for election to the committee.

6.3 Extraordinary General Meetings

6.3.1 EGMs may be called at any time to transact important club business at the request of either the President, the Committee or by the written request to the Secretary of at least 10% of the club membership.

6.3.2 The business of the EGM shall be limited to that contained in the request.

6.3.3 If an EGM is requested by at least 10% of the membership, the requesting members must first undertake to pay the reasonable costs of holding the EGM should their resolutions be defeated at the EGM.

6.3.4 An EGM shall be held within six weeks of receipt of a valid request for an EGM.

6.4 Notice and Conduct of General Meetings

6.4.1 Notice of any meeting shall be delivered either by post or by email to each current member.   Joint members shall receive only one copy of the notice.

6.4.2 At least 21 days’ notice (excluding both the day of the meeting and the delivery period) of the agenda and proposals shall be given for all General Meetings.

6.4.3 Notices by post shall be considered served 48 hours after posting the notice.   Notices by email shall be considered served after 24 hours unless a non-delivery message is received within that 24 hour period.

6.4.4 Accidental failure to deliver notice to any individual member will not invalidate the meeting.

6.4.5 Each General Meeting of the club shall be chaired by the President, or the Vice-President if the President is unavailable, or by a Chairman nominated by the committee if neither Officer is able to attend.

6.4.6 The Chairman of the meeting is authorised to request the removal of any attendee from the meeting who is acting in a disruptive manner, preventing the business of the meeting from being transacted.

6.5 Voting at AGMs and EGMs

6.5.1 Voting for committee nominations and for proposals requiring at least 75% of the votes for acceptance shall be by postal ballot.

6.5.2 Ballots may be sent in by post or by email to an independent scrutineer. The independent scrutineer shall be appointed by the committee and cannot be a member of the club, nor be related to nor reside in the same household of any committee member.

6.5.3 All other proposals shall be determined by a show of hands at the meeting.   Each member attending (including all committee members) shall have one vote.

6.5.4 In the event of a tie, the Chairman of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote, which is to be cast based upon the interests of the club as a whole and not their personal inclination.

6.5.5 The number of abstentions shall be noted in the meeting minutes but are not included in the count of votes cast.

7 Disciplinary Powers

7.1 .1 The committee may reprimand, fine, suspend, or expel from the membership, any person who, after a fair and impartial hearing, shall be found guilty of violating any rules of this club or TICA or of conduct detrimental to this club or to the cat fancy.

7.1.2 Should any member be convicted of animal cruelty or be banned or suspended from keeping animals by a court of law, the committee may act without any formal complaint being submitted.

7.1.3 Any complaint regarding a member shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary, describing both the nature of the complaint and the relevant rule(s) that the member is alleged to have violated. Anonymous complaints may be disregarded.

7.1.4 The written complaint must include sufficient documentation to determine the validity of the complaint and must provide information on how to contact any relevant witnesses.

7.1.5 The President shall set a date for a hearing, and the Secretary shall notify all parties involved by registered post not less than fourteen (14) days in advance of the hearing date.   The hearing date may be moved under exceptional circumstances with the agreement of the Committee and the member under investigation.

7.1.6 The member against whom the complaint is made will be notified formally by registered post at least twenty one (21) days in advance of the hearing. Notification must include the details of the complaint and relevant rule(s).

7.1.7 After a fair and impartial hearing the committee members present shall vote on how to proceed.   At least 75% of votes for a particular course of action shall constitute a decision.

7.1.8 Should any member so disciplined wish to contend either the decision or the punishment, they have the right of appeal to the TICA Regional Director for Europe North within twenty-eight (28) days of the hearing.   The decision of the Regional Director shall be final and binding on the club and the member.

8 Change to Club Rules

8.1.1 Subject to approval of The International Cat Association, this club may adopt and amend club rules that are not inconsistent with the by-laws, rules, and regulations of The International Cat Association.

8.1.2 Changes in these club rules that are required by changes to the by-laws, rules, and regulations of The International Cat Association (providing that they are not inconsistent with English law) shall be notified to the membership by the committee.

8.1.3 Any other changes to club rules shall be made only after the proposed change(s) has been agreed by at least 75% of the members voting at a General Meeting of the club, where at least twenty one (21) day’s notice prior to the meeting has been given of the current rule(s) and the proposed change(s).

9 Dissolution

9.1.1 The club may be dissolved only by a vote at a General Meeting called specifically for the purpose, where at least 75% of the members voting approve the dissolution.

9.1.2 On dissolution, any remaining financial assets of the club shall be donated to a feline welfare organisation.   The choice of organisation shall be determined by a vote amongst the members present at the meeting.   If no organisation receives at least 75% of the votes cast, then the choice of feline welfare organisation shall be made by the TICA Regional Director for Europe North or his designated representative.