CONSTITUTION
OF THE LÖWCHEN CLUB OF
ARTICLE I. Name
and Objectives
Section 1. The name of the
Club shall be the Löwchen Club of America, Inc.
Section 2. The objectives of
the Club shall be:
(a) to encourage and promote quality in the breeding of
pure-bred Löwchen and to do all possible to bring the natural qualities of the
breed to perfection;
(b) to promote,
fund and facilitate interests pertaining to health issues affecting the Löwchen,
including genetic research and testing, and the education of members and the general public;
(c) to fund and facilitate a comprehensive rescue system within
the Club to benefit Löwchen in need throughout the
(d) to encourage the
organization of independent local specialty clubs in those localities where
there are sufficient fanciers of the breed to meet the requirements of the
American Kennel Club;
(e) to promote the standard of the breed as approved by the Club
and the American Kennel Club as the only standard of excellence by which the
Löwchen shall be judged in the
(f) to protect and
advance the interests of the breed and encourage sportsmanlike behavior at conformation
and companion events and wherever Club members congregate;
(g) to conduct matches and specialty conformation and companion
events under the rules and regulations of the American Kennel Club.
Section 3. The Club shall not
be conducted or operated for profit and no part of any profits or remainder or
residue from dues or donations to the Club shall inure to the benefit of any
member or individual.
Section 4. The members of the
Club shall adopt and may revise such By-Laws as may be required to carry out
these objectives.
BY-LAWS
ARTICLE I.
Membership
Section 1. Eligibility. There
shall be four types of membership:
(a) Full
Membership shall include all rights and privileges and shall be open to
(b) Associate
Membership shall include all rights and privileges, except the right to vote or
hold office, and shall be open to
(c) Foreign
Membership shall include all rights and privileges, except the right to vote or
hold office, and shall be open to persons 18 years or older who reside outside
the boundaries of the
(d) Junior
Membership shall include all rights and privileges, except the right to vote or
hold office, and shall be open to persons 10 years of age to 18 years of age.
All applicants must be in good standing with the
American Kennel Club (foreign applicants must be in good standing with their governing kennel
club) and subscribe to the Objectives of the Löwchen Club of America, Inc., and
to the welfare of the Löwchen.
Section 2. Dues. Membership dues shall be determined and set by
a vote of the membership. Dues shall be
payable on or before the first day of January of each year. No member may vote whose dues are not paid by
January 1 of the current year. During
the month of November, the Treasurer shall send to each member a statement of
his dues for the ensuing year.
Section 3. Election
to Membership. Each applicant for
membership shall apply to the Membership Chairperson, on a form approved by the
Board of Directors, which shall provide that the applicant agrees to abide by
these Constitution and By-Laws, Code of Ethics and the rules of the American
Kennel Club. The application shall state
the name, address and occupation of the applicant. A Full Membership application shall carry the
endorsement of two sponsors who have been members in good standing for at least
two years in the Löwchen Club of America, Inc. Accompanying the application,
the prospective member shall submit dues payment for the current year and a
letter of recommendation from each sponsor. Application made after October 1 of each year
shall entitle the applicant to full membership for the remainder of said year
and the following year, pending acceptance of the application.
Application information shall be published in
the Headlions,
and members of the Löwchen Club of America, Inc. will be given 30 days to
comment on the applicant via letters to the Recording Secretary. If a negative letter is received, it is
passed on to the Board as well as to the applicant and a further 30 days is
provided for response by the applicant. If
no negative letters are received within the 30 days, then the applicant’s name
is submitted to the Board for approval.
Applicants shall be elected by secret ballot at
any meeting of the Board of Directors or by secret vote of the Directors by
mail. Affirmative votes of two-thirds of
the Directors present at a meeting of the Board or of two-thirds of the entire
Board voting by mail shall be required to elect an applicant.
An application which has received a negative vote
by the Board may be presented to the membership by one of the applicant's sponsors
at the next annual meeting of the Club. The Club may, by secret ballot and a
favorable vote of 75% of the members present, overturn the vote of the Board. If the application is not presented to the
general membership, the negative vote of the Board stands and the applicant has
no recourse.
The applicant for whom a negative vote has been
given may reapply for membership after six months.
Section 4. Termination of Membership.
Memberships may be terminated:
(a) by resignation. Any
member in good standing may resign from the Club upon written notice to the Recording Secretary, but no member may resign
when in debt to the Club. Obligations other than dues are considered a debt to the club
and must be paid in full prior to resignation.
(b) by lapsing. A
membership will be considered as lapsed and automatically terminated if such
member's dues remain unpaid 60 days after the first day of the fiscal year. In no case may a person be entitled to vote
at any Club meeting whose dues are unpaid as of the date of that meeting.
(c) by expulsion. A membership may be terminated by expulsion as
provided in Article VI of these By-Laws.
ARTICLE II. Meetings
Section 1. Annual
Meeting. The annual meeting of
the Club shall be held in conjunction with the Club's National Specialty Show
at a place, date and hour designated by the Board of Directors. Written notice of the annual meeting shall be
mailed by the Recording Secretary to each member and shall be included in the
Premium and Acknowledgement for the National Specialty and posted in the
issue of the Headlions
preceding the Specialty. The quorum for
the annual meeting shall be 15% of the members in good standing.
Section 2. Special
Club Meeting. A Special Club
meeting may be called by the President or by a majority vote of the members of
the Board who are present at a meeting of the Board or who vote by mail or
email, and shall be called by the
Recording Secretary upon receipt of a petition signed by 10% of the members of
the Club who are in good standing. Such
meeting shall be held at such place, date and hour as may be designated by the
Board of Directors. Written notice of
such meeting shall be mailed by the Recording
Secretary at least 14 days and not more than 30 days prior to the meeting. The notice of the meeting shall state the
purpose of the meeting and no other Club business may be transacted. The quorum for such a meeting shall be 15% of
the members in good standing.
Section 3. Board
Meetings. The annual Meeting of
the Board shall be held prior to the Annual General Meeting at a National
Specialty. Other meetings of the Board
of Directors shall be held at such times and places as are designated by the
President or by a majority vote of the entire Board. Written notice of such meeting shall be mailed,
emailed and posted in the premium and acknowledgements of the Specialty by the
Recording Secretary to each member of the Board at least 14 days prior to the
date of the meeting. The quorum for a Board Meeting shall be a majority of the
Board voting in person, by mail, email, fax, telephone conference call or
telecommunications.
Section 4. Board Business. The Board of Directors may conduct business by
telephone conference call, mail, fax or email provided it does not conflict with
any other provision of these By-Laws. Items voted on by telephone conference
call, mail, fax or email must be confirmed by the secretary in writing within seven
days. A
“meeting” is defined as a gathering where
attendees see and/or hear each other. This includes meeting in person
“physically” in the same room or conducting a meeting by video conference or
teleconference.
In order for business to be conducted by
email the following precautions must be in place:
(a) every Board member must have access to or be provided with
the means to participate;
(b) a procedure must be in place to verify the identity of the
individuals participating to ensure that they are eligible Board members;
(c) a mechanism must be in place to verify that the eligible
Board members are “listening”;
(d) all Board members must agree to participate in this manner.
ARTICLE III. Officers and
Directors
Section 1. Board
of Directors. The Board of
Directors shall include the President, Vice President, Recording Secretary,
Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer and six other persons, geographically distributed as follows:
(a) Eastern
Director: to include all states within
the Eastern time zone;
(b) Central Director: to include all states within the Central time
zone;
(c) Mountain
Director: to include all states within
the Mountain time zone;
(d) Western
Director: to include all states within
the Pacific time zone, also including
(e) At
Large: two additional persons, one of whom may be the past president, both
being full voting Board members.
All Officers and Directors shall be members of two
years or more in good standing. They
shall be elected for a term of two years.
General management of the Club's affairs shall be entrusted to the Board
of Directors.
Section 2. Officers. The Club's
officers, consisting of the President, Vice President, Recording Secretary, Corresponding
Secretary and Treasurer, shall serve in their respective capacities both with
regard to the Club and its meetings and the Board and its meetings.
(a) The President shall preside at all
meetings of the Club and of the Board, and shall have the duties and powers
normally appurtenant to the office of President in addition to those
particularly specified in these By-Laws.
(b) The Vice President shall have the duties
and exercise the powers of the President in case of the President's death,
absence or incapacity.
(c) The Recording Secretary shall keep a
record of all meetings of the Club and of the Board and of all the votes taken
by mail, and of all matters of which a record shall be ordered by the Club. He shall have charge of intra-club
correspondence, notify members of meetings, notify new members of their
election to membership, notify Officers and Directors of their election to
office, keep a roll of members of the Club with their addresses, and carry out
such other duties as prescribed in these By-Laws.
(d) The Corresponding Secretary shall reply
to all correspondence received in response to Club advertising and publicity
and to all inter-club correspondence.
(e) The Treasurer shall collect and receive all
moneys due or belonging to the Club. He shall
deposit the same in a bank approved by the Board, in the name of the Club. The Treasurer’s books shall at all times be
open to inspection by the Board and he shall report at every meeting the
condition of the Club's finances and every item of receipt or payment not
before reported. At the annual meeting the
Treasurer shall render an account of all moneys received and expended during
the previous fiscal year. The Treasurer
shall be bonded in such an amount as the Board of Directors shall determine.
(f) The AKC Delegate shall be elected by the
general membership and serve a term of two years.
Section 3. Vacancies. Vacancies occurring on the Board or among the
officers during a term shall be filled until the next election by a majority
vote of the members of the Board. A vacancy in the office of President shall be
filled automatically by the Vice President and the resulting vacancy in the
office of Vice President shall be filled by the Board.
ARTICLE IV. The Club Year,
Voting, Nominations, Elections
Section 1. Club Year. The Club's
fiscal and official year shall begin on the 1st day of January and end on the
31st day of December. The elected
Officers and Directors shall take office on the first day of January following
the election and each retiring officer shall turn over to his successor all
properties and records relating to that office by the first day of January.
Section 2. Voting. At an Annual Meeting or a special meeting of
the Club, voting shall be limited to those members in good standing present at
the meeting. The bi-annual election of
Officers and Directors, amendments to the Constitution and By-Laws and the
Standard for the breed shall be decided by written ballot of the full
membership and cast by mail. Voting by
proxy shall not be permitted. The Board
of Directors may submit other specific issues for decision to the general
membership by written ballot cast by mail.
Section 3. Election. Election of Officers and Directors shall be
conducted by secret ballot. To be valid,
ballots must be received by the Recording Secretary, or an independent
professional firm designated by the Board, by November 15th. Ballots shall be counted by three inspectors
of election who are members in good standing and neither members of the current
Board nor candidates on the ballot and who shall be chosen in advance by the Board.
The person receiving the largest number of
votes for each position shall be declared elected. If any
nominee, at the time of the annual meeting, is unable to serve for any reason,
such nominee shall not be elected and the vacancy so created shall be filled by
the new Board of Directors in a manner provided by Article III, Section 3.
Section 4. Nominations
and Ballots. No person may be a
candidate in a Club election who is not a resident of the
(a) The Nominating Committee shall nominate, from among the
eligible members of the Club, one candidate for each office on the Board of
Directors and shall procure the acceptance of each nominee so chosen.
The Committee shall consider geographical
representation of the membership on the Board to the extent that it is
practical to do so. The Committee shall
submit the proposed slate of candidates to the Recording Secretary who shall
mail the proposed slate, including the full name of each candidate and the
State in which each nominee resides, to the general membership on or before
August 15th.
(b) Additional
nominations of eligible members may be made by written petition addressed to
the Recording Secretary and received at his regular address on or before
September 30th, signed by five members and accompanied by the written
acceptance of each such additional nominee signifying his willingness to be a
candidate. No person shall be a
candidate for more than one position.
(c) If
no valid additional nominations are received by the Recording Secretary on or
before September 30th, the Nominating Committee’s slate shall be declared
elected and no balloting shall be required.
(d) If one
or more valid nominations are received by the Recording Secretary on or before
September 30th, he or an independent professional firm designated by the Board shall, on or before October 15th, mail to the
general membership a ballot listing all of the nominees for each position in
alphabetical order with the names of the States in which they reside, together
with a blank envelope and a return envelope addressed to the Recording
Secretary or designated professional firm marked "Ballot" and bearing
the name of the member to whom it was sent.
So that the ballots may remain secret, each member,
after marking his ballot, shall seal it in the blank envelope addressed to the
Recording Secretary or designated professional firm. The inspectors of the election or designated
professional firm shall check the returns against the list of members whose
dues are paid for the current year prior to opening the outer envelopes and
removing the blank envelopes, and shall certify the eligibility of the voters
as well as the results of the voting. The
results of the vote shall be posted in the next issue of the Headlions
Newsletter.
(e) Nominations
shall not be made at the Annual Meeting or in any manner other than prescribed
herein.
ARTICLE V. Committees
Section 1. The Board shall appoint
Standing Committees to advance the welfare of the breed and the Club. Possible committees may include Conformation
Events, Companion Events, Annual Awards, Membership, National Specialties,
Breeder Referral, Health, and Website. Such
Committees shall be subject to the final authority of the Board. Special Committees may be appointed by the
Board to aid on particular projects.
Section 2. Any committee
appointment may be terminated by a majority vote of the Board upon written
notice to the appointees. The Board may
appoint successors to fill committee vacancies.
ARTICLE VI.
Discipline
Section 1. American
Kennel Club Suspension. Any member who,
after due process, is suspended from privileges with the American Kennel Club
shall automatically be suspended from privileges with this Club for the term of
the AKC suspension. All membership privileges are returned at the end of
suspension provided any dues incurred are paid in full.
Section 2. Charges.
A member may prefer charges against another
member for alleged misconduct prejudicial to the best interests of the Breed or
the Club. Written charges with
specifications shall be filed in duplicate with the Recording Secretary, accompanied
by a deposit of $50.00, which shall be forfeited if charges are not sustained
by the Board or an appointed Committee following a hearing.
The Recording Secretary shall forward a copy of
the charges to each member of the Board or present them at a Board Meeting. The Board shall consider whether the actions
alleged in the charges, if proven, constitute conduct prejudicial to the best
interests of the Breed or the Club. If
the Board believes the charges do not constitute conduct prejudicial to the
best interests of the Breed or Club, it may decline to entertain
jurisdiction. If the Board entertains
jurisdiction of the charges, it shall fix a date for a hearing by the Board or an
appointed Committee of not less than three members of the Board, not less than
three weeks nor more than six weeks thereafter.
The Recording Secretary shall forward one copy of the charges to the
accused member by certified mail with notice of the hearing. The defendant shall be instructed that they may
personally appear in their own defense and present such witnesses as benefit
their defense.
Section 3. Board
Hearing. The defendant and complainant
may be represented by counsel. In the
event charges are sustained after all the evidence and testimony presented by
complainant and defendant have been heard, the Board or appointed Committee shall
by majority vote suspend or reprimand the defendant from all privileges of the Club for a period
of not more than six months from the date of the hearing, or until the next
annual meeting if that will occur after six months. If the punishment is deemed insufficient, expulsion
may be recommended to the general membership.
The recommendation of suspension or
reprimand shall not restrict the defendant's
right to appear before his fellow members at the ensuing general meeting which would
consider the recommendation of the Board or appointed Committee. Immediately following the Board or appointed Committee
decision, the findings shall be transcribed and filed with the Recording Secretary.
The Recording Secretary shall then notify
each of the parties of the decision and penalty, if any.
The Board shall conduct an investigation and
hearing within 60 days of receipt of charges.
Under no circumstances shall the hearing process and subsequent recommendation
to the general membership be extended beyond six months or the next annual
meeting.
After a decision has been reached, unless
expulsion is recommended by the Board, all records shall forthwith be
permanently sealed.
Section 4. Expulsion.
Expulsion of a member from the Club may
be accomplished only at the Annual Meeting of the Club following a hearing and
upon recommendation of the Board or appointed Committee as provided in Section
3 of this Article. The defendant shall
have the right to appear in his own behalf though no evidence shall be taken at
this meeting. The President shall read
the charges, findings and recommendations, and shall invite the defendant, if
present, to speak in his own behalf. The
voting members present shall then vote by secret written ballot on the proposed
expulsion. A two-thirds vote of those
present and voting at the Annual Meeting shall be necessary for expulsion. If expulsion is not mandated, the suspension
shall stand.
Once a vote is taken by the membership in
regards to expulsion all the records will be forthwith sealed.
ARTICLE VII.
Amendments
Section 1. Amendments
to the Constitution and By-Laws and Standard for the Breed may be proposed by the Board of Directors or delivered
by written petition addressed to the Recording Secretary and signed by 20% of
the membership in good standing. Amendments proposed by such petition shall be considered
by the Board of Directors and submitted to the general membership, with
recommendations from the Board, by the Recording Secretary for a vote within 60
days of the date when the petition was received by the Recording Secretary.
Section 2. The
Constitution and By-Laws and the Standard for the Breed may be amended at any
time provided a copy of the proposed amendment has been mailed by the Recording
Secretary to each Full Member in good standing on the date of the mailing, accompanied
by a ballot on which the Member may indicate his choice for or against the
action to be taken. Dual envelope
procedures described in Article IV, Section 4 (d) shall be followed in handling
ballots, to assure secrecy of the vote. Notice
shall accompany the ballot specifying a date not less than 30 days after the
date of mailing by which date the ballots must be returned to the Recording
Secretary to be counted. The favorable
vote of two-thirds of the members in good standing who return valid ballots
within the time limit shall be required to effect any such amendment.
Section 3. All revisions of the Constitution, By-Laws and
breed standard require AKC approval before submission to the general membership
for ratification.
ARTICLE VIII.
Dissolution. The Club may be dissolved at any time by the written
consent of not less than two-thirds of the members in good standing. In the event of the dissolution of the Club,
other than for the purpose of reorganization, whether voluntary or involuntary
or by operation of law, none of the property proceeds or assets of the Club
shall be distributed to any members of the Club. After payment of the debts of the Club, its
property and assets shall be donated to a charitable organization for the benefit
of dogs selected by the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE IX.
Order of Business
Section 1.
At all
meetings of the Club, the order of business, so far as the character and nature
of the meeting may permit, shall be as follows:
Roll Call
Minutes of the last meeting
Report of the President
Report of the Recording Secretary
Report of the Corresponding Secretary
Report of the Treasurer
Reports of Committees
Election of new members
Unfinished business
New business
Adjournment
Section 2. At all meetings of the Board, the order of business, unless
otherwise directed by the majority vote of those present, shall be as follows:
Reading of minutes of last meeting
Report of Recording Secretary
Report of Corresponding Secretary
Report of Treasurer
Reports of Committees
Unfinished business
Election of new members
New business
Adjournment
ARTICLE X.
Parliamentary Authority. The
rules contained in the current edition of Robert's
Rules of Order, Newly Revised, shall govern the Club in all cases to
which they are applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with these By-Laws
and any other special rules of order the Club may adopt.
Revised July 2007