President’s Message

“As Easter is drawing near, we can only hope that the extremes of weather events in Australia will settle down and that the shocking events in Ukraine will end.

Disaster Benefits for DQ applicants Quite a number of our members were adversely affected by the recent Queensland floods and made application to Dogs Queensland for some financial support from our Budgetary Disaster allocation. This last week the Board approved payments of $1000 to each of these applicants. In addition, thanks go to our major sponsor Royal Canin who provided a generous allocation of Royal Canin dry dog food to assist those affected. This is also being distributed. Our thoughts go to the people in the Lismore area who have recently been inundated with flood waters a couple of times. Ukrainian Kennel Union Members would know that our national body, the Australian National Kennel Council “Dogs Australia” is a member of the European FCI, the Federation Cynologique Internationale. The Ukrainian Kennel Union (UKU) is our equivalent national body and has 290,000 members, no doubt with many of them displaced with their dogs. By way of comparison, in Australia we have just over 30,000 members nationally. The FCI has established a special fund to provide funding to the UKU and its affected members and dogs. At a recent Dogs Australia meeting it was agreed that Dogs Australia would match any donation our State and Territory bodies donated for this fund. At our Board meeting this week it was agreed that $5000 would be donated by Dogs Queensland. It is likely that these funds will be reimbursed by a Ukrainian benefit show as the year progresses, but it was thought important to move quickly to donate these funds. I note that Dogs Victoria has recently raised more than $8000 with a virtual show.

Paws Aid ANZAC Day Show Planning is well underway for this special event. The Conformation Show starts at 1pm with the traditional dusk service happening at 5pm at our War Dog Memorial outside the Clubhouse. The service is conducted in conjunction with the Forest Lake RSL, and thanks go to our committee and those at the Forest Lake RSL for planning this event. Even if you are not entered in the show, I would suggest that you mark your diary and come along for the quite moving dusk service. It is a very special collaboration.

New Board members At our Board meeting last week, it was decided to fill the two casual vacancies caused by the removal of Mr Woodrow as a director at the Special General Meeting held on 9 February 2022 and the subsequent resignation of Ms Carolyn Pearen as a director on 7 March 2022.

First of all, I would like to thank all those who expressed interest in joining the Board. It was a quality field showing a gratifying range of skills and backgrounds. Secondly, I would like to congratulate Ms Ainslie Carius and Ms Elisa McCutcheon on their appointment to these two casual director vacancies and welcome them to the Board. Ainslie is well known as a former councillor, director, President of Dogs Queensland and recently appointed Life Member. Over the years Elisa has made a substantial contribution to a breed club, Dogs Queensland committees and panels and also more recently to the set up of Dogs Australia. They join newly appointed Mr Gordon Mayne from North Queensland on the Board. That casual vacancy arose from the resignation of Mrs Sharron Taylor last December. We are looking to have profile articles about these new directors published in the magazine in the near future.

Thirdly, it has been suggested by some members that more background information should be provided when directors resign from the Board. Being a director of the Canine Control Council (Queensland) Ltd is a completely voluntary role with no remuneration whatsoever. Done well, it is a time-consuming role that makes demands on the individual. Circumstances change and the question whether a director wishes to continue in the role is a private matter and is no doubt carefully considered by the person. I don’t believe the wider membership should be briefed with any relevant background information.

Volunteering? At Dogs Queensland we are all about protecting our members. With continuing Covid requirements, we are doing double vaccination checks at the gates of our Durack Grounds and also at other show and event venues. Why not contact the office and put your name down to volunteer for a few hours gate duty? Say with Easter, you may not be showing every day so why not come along for a few hours on the other day or days and do a few hours gate duty. It is a great way to meet other members and assist the clubs!

Stay safe and enjoy our array of shows and events coming up! Ulla Greenwood, President Dogs Queensland

Breeder Alert –Puppy Scam Websites

Dogs Queensland has become increasingly aware of Puppy Scam Websites using legitimate Dogs Queensland Registration and Queensland Breeder Identification (BIN) Numbers to sell puppies. Dogs Queensland Registration Numbers are obtained from legitimate websites such as Dogs Queensland or DogzOnline, where they are displayed as required by the Queensland Government.

Please see the Queensland Dog Breeder Fact Sheets for regulations and guidelines for Queensland Dog Breeders.

An example of a typical scam is: •A Dogs Queensland Membership number is lifted from current advertising on the internet. •The scammer researches and obtains personal details of the breeder including name, suburb, prefix. •A domain name similar to the Kennel prefix is registered on an offshore registry. •Once the breeder has ceased advertising the litter of puppies a new website is published. •No physical address or phone numbers are advertised on the website. •The seller avoids permitting you to physically see the cyber puppy and only sends non genuine pictures. •The seller insists on only accepting payment by a crypto currency or a funds transfer.

As a breeder what can you do to avoid being an unknowing victim of a Puppy Scam: • Regularly Google search the internet for websites using a similar Domain Name as your Prefix. • Put a warning notification in your online advertising to alert buyers to check any website they are looking at is legitimate. • Encourage puppy buyers to verify breeder information with Dogs Queensland and make direct in-person contact with you. • Ensure puppy buyers check communications are made with verified contact details. • Encourage puppy buyers to meet the puppy and breeder before handing over payments.