Author Archives: Christine Ruessheim

No matter what…..

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How the CFA 0360-0363 prefixes came into existence

 

 

How the CFA 0360-0363 prefixes came into existence and what they mean

Aby's EyeFirst, this was not the idea of any of the Aby breeders at that time, it
has been decided by the board after lengthy discussion of the dilute
colors of VARIOUS breeds, not just the Abys and took place at the
Board meeting Feb 18-20, 1984 in San Diego. Actually, the stone
got rolled by Diane Doernberg who wanted that Central Office (CO)
establishes a mean by which those sable Burmeses that carry dilute
can be distinguished from those that don’t. The motion was carried,
only Reach voting no. As a consequence of this decision and other
relevant previous dicussions, James Thompson proposed to do the same for
Abys. Text quoted from the minutes:
” Mr. Thompson then statet that, based on what had been discussed already,
he moved that the red and ruddy Aby which carry the blue factor also be
identified by registration number. This would apply from this date forward.
There would be no effort to go back and try to identify such cats already
registered. This would apply to red and ruddy cats out of red/blue,
ruddy/blue
and blue/blue breedings”. My remark: Since the fawn haven’t been accepted
at that point yet, that’s the reason they were not mentioned.

The motion was carried, Reach and Jones voting no.

Btw, here’s the list of the board members voting at that meeting:
Robert Bradshaw, Nancy Dodds, Diana Doernberg, Kim Everett,
Walter Friend (President), Richard Gebhard, Dayle Hall, Mark
Hannon, Fred Jacobberger, Becky Jones, William Lee, Nancy
Loomis, Wayne Park, William Reach, Don Swanson, James Thompson,
Donald Williams and Norman Witbeck.

As to my knowledge, only Becky and Kim have been actively
breeding Abys either still at that time (Becky) or previously (Kim).
So, this shows clearly that the idea was not based on any
sort of elitism on behalf of some Aby breeders but rather
on the current breeding/registering philosophy of CFA at that
time which may linger on of some sort to these days.

2009 the Aby BC members voted in favor of eliminating the 0360-0363
prefixes and only use 0380-0387 instead (46 out of 86 members were voting, 30 Yes 16 No. The decision has been confirmed by the board and became effective on January 1, 2010.

Here is what the prefixes in front of each registration number mean:

0380 – ruddy male
0381 – ruddy female

0382 – red male
0383 – red female

0384 – blue male
0385 – blue female

0386 – fawn male
0387 – fawn female

0358 – any recognized color SH Somali/Somali variant male
0359 – any recognized color SH Somali/Somali variant female
(for further description see also post “Partial Success” from October
2011)

The following prefixes are not used anymore but have been in
existence from 1984-2009 and were given to cats out of dilute LINES
but where the registered cat did not necessarily carry dilute itself. Key was that there was a dilute ancestor anywhere in the pedigree of cats that have
been registered in the period from 1984-2009. Therefore, you will still see these prefixes in pedigrees for all Abys registered between the aforementioned period.

0360 – ruddy male
0361 – ruddy female

0362 – red male
0363 – red female

 

 

 

A partial success!!

A partial success!!

High FiveThe CFA board has finally taken a decision at the October 2011 meeting concerning the two imported SH Somalis whose offspring have – erroneously – been registered as regular Abyssinians. Here’s an exerpt of the unoffical minutes of the teleconference of the past weekend:

POLICY REGARDING ABYSSINIAN REGISTRATION VIA PEDIGREE

The CFA Board of Directors has devised a policy to resolve the issue of Abyssinians registered via pedigree from other associations which may use different terminology or definitions for their breeds; thus making it unclear to our Registration Department or impossible to determine what the accurate lineage is. For instance, some registering bodies refer to all shorthaired Somali offspring as “Abyssinian” in their pedigrees.
Specific Abyssinians registered with CFA via pedigree from another association may be assigned or reassigned the prefix numbers of 0358 (males) and 0359 (females) when it is shown that one or more cats in the 8 generations behind the cat to be registered by pedigree are, in fact, not Abyssinian by CFA’s definition.
For purposes of showing, cats with the 0358-0359 prefixes will compete in the Abyssinian color class for the appropriate color (example: a ruddy 0358 male kitten will compete and be scored in Class 0380K).
In devising this policy, an attempt was made to take into account the philosophies of all Abyssinian breeders, with the realization at the onset that no “perfect” policy could exist which would make everyone happy. Hopefully, this policy will strike a balance, so to speak, that will be as least disruptive and most inclusive as possible.
Central Office will begin to re-register the Abyssinians known to have been registered via pedigree. This statement will be included in each re-registration and will serve as notice of theneed to re-register certain cats.
The issue has been first brought before the CFA board members in July 2011,
where a decision was taken to de-register the two imports including
their offspring. Unfortunately, that decision was rescinded at the teleconference meeting in August 2011. One of the reasons was that the CFA President “thought” that there were already too many offspring registered and CFA could face legal measures. Fact is, that exactly for such circumstances the CFA registration rules clearly state, that CFA reserves the right to rescind the registration of any cat (and its descendants) at anytime if it turns out it was done in error!  Aby breeders around the globe were very upset about this “stepping back” and the Abyssinian Breed Club Europe wrote a letter to the
board pointing to the consequences should these two cats and their offspring
remain registered as regular Abys. Unfortunately, at the September teleconference, the entire issue has been tabled again that’s when the decision was taken to start an official and worldwide Petition “Help saving our Abyssinians”. Within a very short time we collected more than 100 signatures
and new ones are coming in every other day! We were very serious to initiate legal steps should CFA continue to remain inactive concerning the two SH Somalis and their offspring being registered as regular Abyssinians. Finally, at the
October teleconference, the board came up with a decision. It’s far from being what most Aby breeders around the globe would have liked to happen, but after all it WAS a decision and the cats in question and all of their descendants will be given a new prefix outside the normal breed prefix indefinitely. They will be 0358 (for males for all accepted colors) and 0359 (for females for all accepted colors). In addition, the board has now granted allowance for all new applications for registration via the pedigree process from foreign registries to first go through the screening of the breed council. The board promissed to grant guarantee that from now own the 8-generation requirement for all ancestors having to be bred according to CFA registration rules will be respected in order to be allowed registration, anything else will be rejected for registration and no new cats shall be registered with the 0358/0359 prefix other than those already circulating in CFA registration books stemming from the original imports. We also clearly asked for an affirmative answer that ALL relatives (to that part that lead to this decision) to the 0358/0359 registered cats will be rejected CFA registration.  The 0358/0359 can continue to be shown alongside with the regular Abyssinians, can collect show points, are scored for regional/national placement and can grand. Many Aby breeders are not at all happy about that latter decision but it was part of the compromise. The Aby community will certainly keep a keen eye on the whole issue and that current new ruling will be followed or they will be prepared to take further steps in order to protect the breed and its history! We will also keep the Petition alive and we encourage anybody to sign it, if they think the same way and that Abys should be bred as they have been for now well over hundred years!