Hi all,

I've just spoken to the VCA and been told that the seminar has been
cancelled, as there were only 25 responses and that was not enough to
warrant spending the money to cover Dr Robertson's travel and accommodation
costs.

This issue of paying for Dr Robertson's attendance at ACES related functions
has developed a life of its own. Dr Robertson expressed to me and my breed
council colleague his outrage that this topic had ended up in the public
domain. This had occurred after the Labrador Breed Council declined to pay
for his travel and accommodation costs to our meeting in May. I said to Dr
Robertson then and will repeat it now, that I do not believe Dr Robertson
should be personally out of pocket through attempting to promote and/or
clarify ACES, however I also believe that we as individual breeders, breed
clubs and breed councils should not have to pay his costs. The Labrador
Breed Council had delegates in attendance from Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide
who were not entered at the show and who came solely to attend the
conference and paid their own way.

I believe the costs incurred by Dr Robertson in attempting to clarify ACES
should be borne by the AVA, however I guess some of the problems that exist
do so because the ANKC and hence the state bodies have allowed them to
exist, so maybe some proportion of the costs should be at their doorstep.

What a can of worms this has become! Where are we heading and what are the
answers?

Depressed and disillusioned,

Sylvia