2015 Rule Change
Proposals and Results.
15 or the 16 eligible
Clubs voted on these proposals. The results are as follows:
RULE CHANGE PROPOSAL
#1
Proposal to amend WRA Policy and Procedure #16:
Current
wording:
16. Definition of "Blind".
According to Mary Beth O’Neill, head of performance
events and judges education, as of 06/28/05.
A dog that is blind in one eye,
and has normal sight in the other eye is
"not blind by definition". A dog with
one eye surgically removed would be
considered to have been "surgically
altered" and if it came into the show
ring would be excused. However, from a
performance standpoint, if it had normal vision in
the remaining eye, it
would NOT be considered to be blind.
Therefore the Whippet Racing
Association Board has decided to allow
entry of such a dog at the
discretion of individual clubs and the dog’s
owner. (June 28, 2005)
Proposed
wording:
DELETE: “at the discretion of individual
clubs”
ADD: “If a Club wishes to disallow an entry based on the
"vision status" of a dog, the Club shall submit documentation of
reasoning and evidence to the BOD (NRD, Sec-Treas
& Regional Coordinators) and the owner of the dog. The owner of the dog
shall also be allowed to submit documentation to the BOD for consideration
within 14 days of the initial notification. The BOD will then review the
documentation based on events and facts.
At the
discretion of the BOD, said dog may be observed by qualified foul judges and
WRA officials (ie: a Regional Representative or
other(s) appointed by WRA) at the next meet in which the dog is entered unless
the BOD choose to decide based on the body of evidence initially presented by
both parties. The owner must notify the board at least 2 weeks prior to the
meet so that the BOD has the opportunity to identify the appropriate officials.
The BOD will then make a final decision to whether the dog is allowed to
compete by a simple majority vote within 10 days of the “observation” meet. If
the Club wishing to disallow a dog based on vision status has it’s race secretary or representative serving on the BOD,
that person will not be allowed to vote in the decision. If the owner or
handler of the visually impaired dog serves on the board, that person will not be
allowed to vote. The decision will be considered binding for all clubs in WRA
unless other clubs bring forth a new body of information.
Rational
for the change:
a. To have
the question of a dog's entry impartially decided upon by WRA officials not
involved with a dog or the club in question (ie: a
club with officers who own dog(s) directly in competition.
b. To prevent
indiscriminate disqualification of a dog.
c. Even a dog
who has DQ’d is allowed to retrain and re-enter
competition under certain qualifying criteria.
d. To give
back the decision making authority to the Parent Organization on such a serious
matter, thereby removing bias individuals from such a serious decision.
Proposal 1 – 10 Clubs
For, 5 Clubs Against. This proposal did pass.
RULE CHANGE PROPOSAL
#2
Due to the duties of Registrar and Secretary/Treasurer being
split, change to Rulebook section 1.2 paragraph 4:
Currently wording:
Prior
to the first WRA Practice or official WRA Meet in which a Whippet will
participate, a copy of the AKC, CKC, or UKC registration and $2.00 registration
fee should be sent to the Registrar/Recorder.
Proposed wording:
Prior
to the first WRA Practice or official WRA Meet in which a Whippet will
participate, a copy of the AKC, CKC, or UKC registration shall be sent to the
Registrar/Recorder. The $2.00 registration fee shall be sent to the
Secretary/Treasurer.
Proposal 2 – 13 Clubs
For, 2 Clubs Against. This
proposal did pass.
RULE
CHANGE PROPOSAL #3
Since clubs now have 3 options for the length of their track, the
following addition to Section 6.1 Race Track of the 2013 WRA Rule Book is
proposed as follows:
Change
to Rulebook section 6.1.(c):
(c) Clubs must publish the length of their
race track (150 yards, 175 yards or 200 yards) for their upcoming race meet in
the "RACE MEETS" section under the "City" section.
See example below:
Date Club City
State Race
Secretary In conjunction
Proposal
3
– This proposal was not included in the results as a track length column was
already in the works for the Race Meet page of the website.
Addition
to Policy & Procedures adding a procedure #21
#21: For the year 2015, allow
the NRD to negotiate a “joint national" with the North American Whippet
Racing Association (NAWRA). Because NAWRA and WRA have similar goals but
slightly different means of achieving them, such a venue will require
suspending or altering some of the WRA rules for this event only. All attempts
will be made to create a rule set for this meet that is a combination of the
pre-existing rules of the 2 parent organizations except where when necessary;
places were “novel” rules may be employed include (potentially) the awarding of
race points for this event (since it has been proposed that dogs be allowed to
take National and race points awarded in this event back to their original
parent organization, and by definition, that will be an original way of
distributing points). The rule set for the meet will be published one month
prior to the meet. If this event is considered successful, this proposal will
be re-introduced to become a permanent option for nationals in the future but
otherwise will expire after the year 2015.
Rational: Recognizing that WRA and
NAWRA run under similar yet slightly different rules, a proposal to have a
joint venue has surfaced for this year. In order to hold such an event, we will
need to suspend some of the WRA rules (while expecting NAWRA to do the same).
The proposal is presented as one time change, allowing the event to happen but
not making it permanent unless it is considered successful.
Proposal 4 – 12 Clubs
For, 3 Clubs Against. This
proposal did pass.