Club Membership Enforcement, Other Beagle News

Full Circle

December 14, 2016

Source: Allen Gingerich

Using Previous Owner’s Easy Entry™ Card to Enter Dog is Not Acceptable
Question: Can someone enter a dog into any event when the registration is sent in to UKC for transfer? If so, who is listed as the owner?
Answer: The rule states, New Owners may not enter using the registered owner’s Easy Entry™ Card. When a dog has been sold, the registered owners Easy Entry™ Card becomes void. The same is true when it comes to using the dog’s Registration Certificate, for entering purposes, that has not yet been transferred to the New Owner.

This rule is in place to encourage the new owner to transfer the dog into their name as soon as possible. Otherwise, any mailings, which may include degrees, problem reports, etc., that directly involve the dog, would be sent to the owner on record at UKC, which is not the correct owner anymore. Of course, it also helps to promote ownership records at UKC to be accurate and current.

That said, yes, it is still permissible for the new owner, or any other handler for that matter, to enter the dog in an event while the transfer of ownership is in process. The dog would need to be entered as a Conditional Entry. Entering a dog as Conditional comes with a $5 fee in addition to the entry fee. Until the new owner receives the dog’s Registration Certificate and Easy Entry™ Card from UKC, they should list the previous owner as the owner on the entry slips, and the new owner listed as the handler.

There’s a valid reason for this. If you were to enter the dog in an event showing the new owner information, there’s a good chance that the event report would be held up at UKC because the dog name and owner information does not match what UKC has on record. What if the dog is entered in this way, but by the time the event report is processed the transfer of ownership has already been processed (showing the new owner on record)? This would not be a problem at all because the dog’s record will also show any previous owners and UKC could easily confirm that they do in fact have the right dog without holding up the event report from being processed.

Casting Dogs Where Guide Doesn’t Have Permission
Question: Recently, I drew out in a cast and, unbeknownst to us cast members at the time, we turned our dogs loose where our guide did not have permission to hunt. The dogs were all struck when suddenly a four-wheeler could be heard speeding across the field toward us. Obviously upset, this guy started yelling at us that we do not have permission to be there. He advised us that he called the law and demanded we stayed put until they showed up. Our guide apologized for bringing our cast to this spot and admitted he didn’t have permission. After a few choice words to the guide on our cast, the landowner seemed to have calmed down some.

During this encounter, the judge did call time out, but the dogs had continued trailing. Eventually, the landowner did allow us to go in and handle them. By the time we got back out to the trucks, the game warden was there waiting on us. Thank goodness, the landowner was gracious enough to let us slide after discussing the situation, and no one was cited for anything. However, this whole ordeal took a long time, and because of it, we could not get our hunt time in before the scheduled deadline to return to the clubhouse. I feel this is an issue that should be addressed and for the most part could be avoided if clubs were a little more concerned who they assign as guides.

Answer: Those of us who have hunted hounds for a good while, have found ourselves in a situation where the dogs end up trailing where we don’t have permission to hunt. However, casting dogs in an area where dogs will likely trail onto posted property, or where the guide doesn’t have permission to be, is unacceptable. It’s an important part of the event that club officers should be concerned about when it comes to assigning guides.

As a handler, you shouldn’t have to worry about whether the guide has permission where he or she is taking you or, worse yet, casting your dog into a possibly dangerous situation. The last thing anyone wants is getting lectured by an angry landowner and disrupting the hunt. It is the club’s responsibility to assign guides who have permission to hunt where they are taking their casts. Guides who are known to take casts in places where they don’t have permission should not be used or even considered. Club or event officials should be notified of any such situations and need to be concerned of any such complaints.

UKC asks all club officers to be concerned of this issue and to address it at your club meetings. Make sure the guides you assign have permission where they are taking your casts. Putting your event participants in a situation where the guide does not have permission to be can be very frustrating and potentially dangerous when you don’t know how a landowner might react when he catches them on his property. Participants enter an event in good faith that the guides selected by the club have permission to hunt at all their casting locations. Otherwise, it can quickly become a bad ordeal in many ways and, as it should, reflects poorly on the event organizers and the sport.

Club Membership Enforcement
Question: Can a club enforce membership dues? I know other organizations require that you be a member in order to enter your dog and run in their trial. Can we do this with our UKC events? What about the club membership base, can we enforce that these people pay their dues before they can participate in our events? Most of them do not care about being able to vote. As you can see we are having a problem getting people to pay, so any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.
Thank you, Brenda

Answer: Very good questions, Brenda. I have a suggestion, but it’s probably not what you want to hear. First of all, your club can absolutely be strict about requiring dues from members. However, you can’t limit your UKC Licensed events to members only. And even though clubs have the right to refuse entry to any owner or handler, it’s my opinion that to do so on the basis that they had not paid club dues is a misuse of that authority.
All UKC Licensed hunts are open to all UKC registered dog owners. One thing that you could do is to provide some incentive for good, hard working, paid up club members. I’d suggest offering a significant discount to paid members for your club’s licensed events. For instance, you can advertise your entry fee as $20 and post a sign in your club that says club members in good standing hunt for $10. For those clubs hosting five or so hunts per year, that is a significant savings for members in good standing. Just an idea.

Temporary Location Changes
If a club is not fortunate enough to own its own club facility, the situation is bound to come up sooner or later regarding how to handle the minor emergency of not being able to use the advertised location of the event. Whether it’s conflicting dates with another user group, or some sort of disaster, you could be put in the position of having to act fast to pull off a successful hunt under less than ideal conditions. Knowing the guidelines that UKC has set forth for handling these situations will be a big help.

First, it is expected that every attempt will be made and all possibilities exhausted prior to giving up the ship. If a new location must be utilized, the club must post a representative (an Individual, Not A Sign) at the old location. Those entrants showing up in ample time to drive to the new location can be given direction/instructions and sent on the way. Those entrants who are running a little closer to the deadline should be held up and escorted to the new location by the club representative. Or the representative might be prepared to take or record their entry information as proof where deadlines are concerned. The club representative should have a list of all entrants who made it to the advertised location by the advertised deadline. These individuals will be allowed to enter the event even though they will obviously be arriving at the alternate location after the deadline.

Our biggest problem in regards to this situation is clubs who assume that a sign tacked to the door is sufficient to direct hunters to a new location. Please make a note of this procedure and store it away in your memory bank so you know what to do if it happens to your club. Let’s make every possible effort to ensure that our out-of-the-area participants have an opportunity to enjoy a well-organized event.