THE KENTISH CAT SOCIETY RULES

(Revised edition 1997.  Amended 2002.)

1.  Name and Objects

1.1    The Society shall be called “The Kentish Cat Society.”  The objects of the Society shall be to promote an active interest in the welfare and protection of all cats, to encourage pure breeding of pedigree cats, to hold open all-breed shows and to support the shows held by other clubs and offer trophies.  The Society shall be bound by the rules and discipline of the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF).

2.  Membership

2.1     The Society shall consist of an unlimited number of annual, long-term and honorary members, and life members who had paid the appropriate subscription by 31st December 1990.  Honorary members shall not be entitled to vote at meetings and shall not be eligible for election to the committee.  Membership of the Society shall imply acceptance of the rules of the Society.

3.  Application for Membership

3.1     Applications may be made at any time on the form provided and the membership subscription and entry fee shall be paid at the date of application.

3.2     All applications for membership shall be considered, and if approved by the Committee, their names and addresses shall be recorded, such record being open to inspection by any member of the Society.

3.3     Any member suspended under GCCF rules must apply for re-election after the expiry of the suspension.

4.  Resignations

4.1     A member may withdraw from the Society on giving notice to the Honorary Secretary in writing.  The retiring member shall have no claim whatever against the Society and shall be liable for the subscription for the year in which notice is given.

5.  Committee and Officers

5.1       The affairs of the Society shall be conducted on behalf of the members by the elected officers and by twelve elected members of the Society who shall form the Committee and who may alone vote at its meetings.  The elected officers shall be the Chairman, the Honorary Secretary and the Honorary Treasurer.  The officers shall serve for a period of three years, one retiring each year in rotation.  Elected Committee members shall also serve for a period of three years, a group of four retiring each year in rotation.  Save for the Chairman, the officers and other elected Committee members shall be eligible for immediate re-election.  The Chairman shall be eligible for immediate re-election for one further term of office only.  The officer and Committee members due for election in any year and any delegate(s) to the GCCF shall be elected by ballot at the Annual General Meeting, taking up office at the end of that meeting.

5.2     The President shall be elected for the ensuing year at the Annual General Meeting.  Vice-Presidents may be proposed and elected at any Annual General Meeting as the members see fit.  The President and any Vice‑Presidents shall have the right to attend and speak at any Committee meeting.

5.3     Nominations to fill officer and Committee vacancies and for delegates to the GCCF must be received by the Honorary Secretary not later than 1st February preceding the Annual General Meeting.  Delegates if not members of the Committee shall automatically be co-opted to membership of the Committee for their period of office.

5.4     The Committee may co-opt members of the Society to fill casual vacancies on the Committee until the following Annual General Meeting.  Co-opted members may not vote.  At its first meeting, the Committee shall appoint from among its members the Vice-Chairman, the Honorary Cups and Show Support Secretary, the Honorary Membership Secretary, the Honorary Minutes Secretary, and the Honorary Welfare Officer, and others to such position as from time to time it may deem to be necessary.

6.  Powers of the Committee

6.1     All matters at Committee meetings shall be decided by a simple majority of voting members present.  The Chairman may exercise a casting vote but otherwise shall have no vote.

6.2     The Committee shall have power to elect or refuse membership of the Society, to resolve any matters not covered by these or GCCF rules; to suspend or to expel any member or official; to appoint sub-committees of its members and to co-opt to such sub‑committees others who need not necessarily be members of the Society.

7.  Duties of Officers

7.1     The elected Officers and those appointed by the Committee to other offices shall act generally under the authority of the Committee; their duties shall include the following:

7.2     The Honorary Secretary shall conduct correspondence on behalf of the Society, shall keep contact with the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy and its official journal, shall hold an up-to-date register of members, shall service meetings as stated in rules 8 and 9 and shall keep minutes of those meetings.

7.3       The Honorary Treasurer shall hold all monies received on behalf of the Society in accounts opened on authorisation of the Committee and shall present a financial report to the Committee at each meeting and shall render annually to the Committee a statement of income and expenditure and a balance sheet covering the financial year.  The Honorary Treasurer shall also defray on behalf of the Society all expenses properly and necessarily incurred by the officers and members of the Committee and such expenses incurred by Society members as are considered appropriate by the Committee.  All cheques for more than an amount agreed by the Committee shall be signed by two of the Honorary Treasurer, Honorary Secretary and Chairman.  Cheques up to that amount shall require one of these signatures only, normally that of the Honorary Treasurer.

7.4     The Honorary Cups and Show Support Secretary shall keep a record of all trophies held by the Society and shall arrange show support authorised by the Committee.  Members shall be responsible for the care of Club trophies and shall deliver them up to the Honorary Cups Secretary when due.

7.5     The Honorary Membership Secretary shall receive applications for membership of the Society and submit them to the Committee for approval and, if approved, shall inform new members of their acceptance and supply them with a copy of the rules.

8.  General Meetings

8.1     The Annual General Meeting of the Society shall be held as early as possible before the end of May and at a time and place fixed by the Committee.  At least fourteen days’ notice shall be given to every member of the Society.  Twelve members in addition to members of the Committee shall form a quorum. The agenda shall be circulated with the notice calling the meeting.  Voting by proxy shall not be permissible at any meetings (except as stated under rule 13).  Only fully paid up members shall be entitled to vote.

8.2     The business conducted at the meeting shall include the adoption of the accounts for the preceding financial year which have been checked by a person suitably qualified to at least the standards required by the GCCF and approved by the Committee; the setting of subscriptions and entry fees; the appointment of the person who will check the next year’s accounts; and the elections of those noted in paragraph 5 above.

8.3     A Special General Meeting shall be called at any time upon requisition signed by no fewer than twelve members of the Society, specifying the exact business for which such meeting is required, and which shall be the only business to be conducted.  Expenditure incurred shall be borne by the signatories unless subsequently the Committee shall agree to reimburse it from Society funds.

9.  Committee Meetings

9.1     The Committee shall meet to discuss the business of the Society at least four times a year.  The quorum for Committee meetings shall be five including one officer.  Notice of each Committee meeting and its agenda shall be posted to each member of the Committee at least fourteen days prior to the meeting.

10.  Finance

10.1   The Society’s financial year shall be from the 1st January to 31st December.

10.2   Joint subscriptions are for husband and wife, or two members of the same household.

10.3     Annual subscriptions shall be paid on joining and thereafter on 1st January each year, except that members joining at or after the show in October shall not be liable to pay a further subscription for the year immediately following.

10.4   Any member whose subscription is in arrears after the last day of February shall be suspended from membership until the current subscription has been paid.  A member who has not paid by the 31st December shall be deemed to be a lapsed member, and be required to pay a re-entry fee.

10.5   After three years, a member may pay a long-term (ten-year) subscription.

11.  Show Management

11.1   For each year of their show management, Show Managers, who are not members shall automatically become Honorary Members and shall be co-opted as members of the Committee unless already serving in that respect.

11.2   The Show management shall be responsible to the Committee for all show income and expenditure and for any assets held for show purposes.  Show Managers shall be under the same constraints as the Honorary Treasurer for the opening and use of bank accounts, including the requirement of issuing cheques under a single or double signature.  The officers shall be included as signatories on the Show bank account.

12.  Trophies  

12.1   Trophies, points and society rosettes shall only be awarded to fully paid up members.

12.2   Trophies shall only be presented to members who are fully paid up at the time of presentation.

12.3   Any member who fails to return a trophy (i) on time and (ii) in an acceptable condition may, at the discretion of the Committee, be barred from holding trophies and be liable for the cost of any repairs.

12.4   Donated trophies shall become the property of the Club.

13.  Revision of the Rules

13.1   Any proposed alteration of or addition to the rules must be confirmed and sanctioned by a vote of not less than two-thirds of the members at the Annual General Meeting or Special General Meeting called for the purpose.

14.  Dissolution of the Society

14.1   Fourteen days’ notice of any proposal to wind up the Society shall be given in writing to the members and a Special General Meeting called.  At this Special General Meeting, but at no other meeting, members shall be allowed to vote by proxy.

14.2   If the motion to dissolve the Society is confirmed by more than two-thirds of the members voting (including those voting by proxy], the Society’s liabilities shall be discharged and any balance of the funds shall be divided equally among cat welfare organisations to be agreed by the members present. Trophies shall be returned to their owners wherever possible and, if not possible, disposed of as agreed by the Committee.

15.  Surrender of Books, Records etc.

15.1     All officers, officials and members who, under these rules, have custody of any books, documents, records, property or monies belonging to the Society shall, on request, surrender them to the Committee.