Governing Council of the Cat Fancy

The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy ( GCCF ) is one of the oldest European umbrella organizations of cat clubs, which is engaged in the exhibition industry and the raising and breeding of cats.

History

Founded in 1910 by three or four independent clubs in the UK, the initiative for the National Cat Club had gone out. The beginning of the 20th century, active cat clubs had different systems of registration of pedigree cats and exhibitions, which they partly not mutually recognized (which is on the mainland today is still a common practice). At the National Cat Club was recognized that this would lead to a proliferation that would be detrimental to the cattery. Thus, the GCCF was established to introduce uniform exhibition, breeding and husbandry guidelines and to lead a unified registration of breeding cats in a stud book.

The inclusion of a cat in the Stud Book was at that time already linked to two conditions: Your ancestors had to be registered, and all ancestors had to be of the same race to great-grandparents. Overall, there were then four "races" (more precisely, the sections in the studbook ): Long -haired cats, short -haired cats, Abyssinians and Siamese. Today there are many more unequal (2006: 55), which is attributable, among other things it also but that 12 different "races" are recognized at the GCCF alone among the Persians.

The then implemented by the various clubs studbooks were merged so that returning to the 1910 breeding records could be present, these records were not lost. The oldest existing stud books date from the year 1925. However, are exhibition catalogs until 1910 available from which the names of the animals and their parents are also known, so that you may also have a successful family tree search can thus carry back until this year - if you have animals from these strains.

Current

Today the GCCF 143 clubs are connected. They deal increasingly with the welfare of the cat itself, let it be with or without pedigree. Of course, exhibitions of them aligned, but since the GCCF has licensed only 120 exhibitions in the period from June 2005 to May 2006, can not well deal with all these clubs with the exhibition industry.

As an umbrella organization, the GCCF limited to the United Kingdom, so that its effect should actually be limited. Since he has but very early on in Europe today set loaded and recognized breed standards, its influence is widely felt on the mainland: the so-called "free" cat clubs ( who are not part umbrella organization ) are often based on the breed standards of the GCCF.

The task of the GCCF today is mainly to issue pedigrees to license exhibitions, training of judges and hold the umbrella organization of the cat clubs. The GCCF itself supports the welfare of the cat in the main by a foundation set up in 1988, the Cat Welfare Trust. This research will support projects related to cats. In addition, the GCCF training for breeders of cats leads through to maintaining the health of their breeding animals.