April 11, 2023
Greetings American Kiko Goat Association members!
I am submitting these drafts of two proposed changes to the Constitution and By-Laws of the association for voting on at the 2023 conference and sale, June 22-24 in Cullman, AL. The proposed wording changes are attachments to this message. If you have trouble opening or viewing the changes, please reach out to me at (620) 755-1335 so that I can make copies available for you to study prior to the conference and voting.
Background for the Amendment #1:
The 2011 lawsuit filed against the AKGA resulted in several housekeeping changes to the Constitution and By Laws that dictated how the Board of Directors conducted official business (records retentions, recording of meetings, etc). One action suggested by the lawsuit was a motion to modify the requirements for registration, and subsequent voting for approval by the membership. The author of this amendment included requirements for accepting registration from other registries, and in some cases these requirements were above and beyond the requirements of normal AKGA member registrations. In essence, these requirements made it more difficult to transfer a goat into the AKGA herdbook than it would be to register an AKGA goat. The sections I am referring to are copied in the attachments.
Comments:
As your acting Registrar, I have reviewed thousands of pedigrees in the last couple of years, particularly those for members or member prospects who are seeking to get transfer registration on their goats. It is apparent to me that the CBL changes in 2011 were quite confusing and didn’t appear to address any particular issue other than creating a blockade for transfer registrations. The arbitrary addition of DNA testing for transfer registrations (e.g. requiring DNA testing on a 1/2 crossbred) is simply inconsistent with our own practices and requirements. The Board of Directors and I have discussed these items on numerous occasions and have put together a plan to remedy the situation.
Amendment #1 simply removes the 2011 edits that were imposing additional testing requirements on animals registered with other registries. The changes shown now make the requirements default back our own registration requirements, for each purebred and crossbred categories.
Background for Amendment #2:
Nearly all Kiko registrations can and should be able to trace back to the AKGA herdbook. With the creation of the NKR and subsequent volatility and animosity, the AKGA at the time chose to withhold access to the DNA testing files held at UC Davis. The position created a situation where those who wanted to utilize NKR could not verify prodigy against goats that they had already DNA tested through AKGA. Some chose to repeat testing, some chose to ignore, and others chose to create personal accounts with UC Davis so that the files were no longer in a 3rd party’s hands. All of these situations led to complicated outcomes when we opened the DNA file access and started allowing transfer registrations. Much of the DNA traceability was broken or lost completely, and it has left many existing and newer members wondering why it cannot be fixed.
Comments:
The current Board of Directors have discussed the problems associated with the DNA traceability from outside registrations, and are proposing that we move forward with utilizing as much parentage traceability as possible, but also that we decide to accept a very minor amount of uncertainty when faced with pedigree situations that we cannot remedy. Our discussions have concluded that a certainty of 75% or better in a pedigree ensures that offspring of that animal will be confident to approximately 88%, which is the same level that we currently start requiring DNA verifications. When looking directly at an animal’s pedigree, this “75%” translates to being able to verify 3 of the 4 grandparents of that animal. An animal meeting this 75% would be allowed to transfer register in AKGA, and subsequent matings and registerable prodigy would be subject to our existing CBL rules. We feel that this will eliminate the vast majority of the stumbling blocks that newer members experience when trying to enter our organization, therefore maintaining a positive direction in membership and participation.
Matt Cantrell
AKGA Registrar