I hope you are all well, and enjoying judging. I have a few reminders for you. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me.?
First of all, you should not be posting pictures of yourself on social media at a show showing yourself holding a cat you judged at that show. ? This gives exhibitors the feeling that you are showing preference toward that cat, and the judging program committee gets complaints about this all the time. Please only post a picture of yourself behind the table, or one of yourself with your clerk or the other judges. Those would be appropriate. If you have put pictures up like that recently, please take them down.
Secondly, please be aware that as a licensed judge, you can not clerk in the specialty you judge in. That was fine when you were a trainee, but it is against the rules as a judge. You may still master clerk.
I had a disturbing email this morning about some AJs who exhibited recently in China. If you are exhibiting, you need to be sure that the cats you put in the ring are very good examples of their breeds, and are presented in excellent condition. Cats that have a disqualification, cats that are obese or too thin, aggressive cats, poorly groomed cats, or any cats that make your judgement look questionable should not be exhibited by anyone in the judging program. You need to understand that as a member of the judging program, all eyes are on you. I’m not saying that something you show needs to be national win quality, but it should be a cat that could grand at the very least. I was not given specific names of anyone who exhibited these cats, and did not ask for that information.?
Lastly, it would be helpful to know of any one of you that are looking to apply to the regular program. I’d be happy to make sure you are on the right track, and it’s helpful for the committee to know who is thinking about applying. I know of some now, but if you could let me know, it would be appreciated. The updated rules for application are on the CFA website, but I’m happy to help out wherever I can.?
I hope to see some of you next week at the Annual!
Thanks,
Anne Mathis
