Protest letter to President Brucker

October 17, 2011

Open Letter to President Jeffrey Lynn Brucker, 1st Vice President Dr. Anthony DiNardo, 2nd Vice President Mary-Helene Brown M.D., Recording Secretary Deborah Sternberg, Corresponding Secretary Sandra Teague, Treasurer Julie Stade, Board Members Dr. May Jacobson, Judith Brown, Sam Moceri, George Ross, Beverly Purswell DVM, Penny Cary, AKC Delegate Naomi Shorr
Cc: John Schoeneman Top Twenty Chair

An albino bitch was invited and shown in the DPCA sponsored Top20 obedience program/competition at the 2011 National. This was in direct violation of DPCA policy. A motion was passed establishing this policy in 2004, signed by 5 of the current officers and directors. (Now 6 members with the addition of Helsdon in for Moceri's seat)

04-26: Monteleon/Helsdon
Preamble: Whereas the DPCA has consistently and strongly opposed the breeding of albino Doberman Pinschers and has rejected their inclusion within the breed standard, and
Whereas the DPCA shoulders the responsibility for protecting the standard of the breed, and
Whereas an important part of that responsibility includes the education of the public about the Doberman Pinscher, which education includes ensuring that the DPCA's thoughtful and measured response to the danger posed to the breed by Albino dogs is consistently applied throughout the many committees of the DPCA,

Motion by Monteleon/Helsdon:
That Albino Doberman Pinschers shall be ineligible for nomination for all conformation and performance awards, certificates, and competitions of the DPCA including, but not limited to, Longevity Program, Working Aptitude Evaluation, Top 20 competition, obedience certificates, agility certificates, tracking certificates, and that Z-factored Dobermans be allowed to participate in performance awards programs such as Top 20 Obedience and Agility, performance recognition awards, and the WAE ONLY upon proof of neutering.

For the motion: Cornelius, Shorr, DiNardo, Monteleon, Schoeneman, DeHetre, Helsdon, Hanley, Jacobson, Brucker
Against the motion:
Abstain: None
No vote cast: Kelley, Reeves-Hunt, Brooks, Burke
Motion passed.


DPCA was in error inviting the owner and her dog to the event. The DPCA board of directors must follow and enforce the club rules, regulations and policies.

Since we already have a motion in place which must be followed we would like to make these points and recommendations.

. Other Parent clubs have rules with similar exclusions for their own programs.

. Each motion that would impact how the DPCA conducts its business should be updated in the APM immediately following the motion so the APM is always up to date. This unfortunate, embarrassing incident would never have happened if this had been followed.

. The APM should be brought up to date by the 1st VP whose job it is to do so.

. Since motion 04-26 was made in the year 2004, it appears that all motions made since at least 2004 need to be reviewed, in case there are other pertinent motions that may have been overlooked for inclusion in the APM.

. Each Committee Chair must have rules and instruction of how they do their jobs listed in the APM. Committee chairs turn over from time to time, and written rules and instruction have to be available for there to be any type of continuity.

. A letter of apology should be written to the owner of the albino bitch explaining that an error was made in regards to the administration of our program.

. A letter of apology should be sent to the person who ranked #21 in the 2011 Obedience Top Twenty, who should have been invited to compete in the Top Twenty Competition at the Nationals. While we can never compensate them fully for not being able to participate there, we should at least make sure they receive a top twenty ribbon.

. We request that no photos of the non eligible albino be used in the Pipeline either in candids, or the Top Twenty photo section. We also suggest a request be made to the two Doberman magazines to follow suit.

. This dog was not eligible for the Top Twenty, and should not be advertised as such.

We would appreciate a speedy resolution to this unfortunate error in DPCA policy.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Gates Past Albino Committee Chair
Judy Bingham Past Albino Committee Chair
Janet Van Wormer Past DPCA PresidentOctober 17, 2011

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