Chairman’s Letter
to attend the full flavour of an exciting and inspirational event. I would also like to mention the WAC organising committee
– volunteers from the membership who put themselves forward and into the firing line. I often encourage members to be involved in promoting the alpaca in whatever way possible – this group took alpaca promotion to another level. I cannot thank them enough for the work they did in making the event an international success. Thank you to Caroline Roberts, Caroline Trotter, Di Davies,
Shirley Bettinson, Viv Cook, John Clarke, Claire Waring, Libby Henson, and Philippa Collett. The organisation of the WAC took these volunteers away from their families for a consid- erable amount of time, so a big thank you to them also for their patience. In this issue of the magazine, I open the debate on whether
the BAS should alter its rules to allow members to operate with greater ease in Europe (see page 33). At the last AGM, members asked for this information and the article clearly outlines the case for change. We are keen to hear the membership’s views on the subject so please send your comments to
editorial@alpaca-magazine.org.uk and we will print a selection in the next issue of the magazine.
Postal survey By now you should all have received a postal survey form regarding microchipping, ear tagging and registration. The form has been sent out because the BAS wants to show DEFRA and Animal Health that as an industry, we are committed to working with them and properly representing the membership and their views. They have agreed to hold a meeting with the industry in the near future to discuss the way forward. We will take the survey results to those meetings and present them as the basis for further discussion and negotiation. As I write, the survey result are still being returned, after which the analysis can be completed and the results published. I am aware of concerns over the stance of some Agricultural
Shows which have banned alpacas from the showground. This has resulted from misinformation being sent to show organisers, giving an unrealistic and elevated risk of infection spread from alpacas. I am happy to report that the BAS has now managed to give all the showgrounds the correct information and we thank the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations (ASAO) for their assistance. The incident has had the benefit of forging closer links between the two organisations. The ASAO maintained a realistic view of the situation, compiling information from the BAS biosecurity guidelines and including comments from DEFRA and Animal Health. Reports from around the country indicate that normal service has been resumed and the hysteria calmed.
4 Alpaca Summer 2012
Forging ahead W
elcome to the summer issue! I have to begin with the World Alpaca Conference, held at Keble College, Oxford, in April. Much of this issue is dedicated to the conference, giving those of you that were unable
Time for introductions The majority, if not all the BAS members, will at one time or another have had some interaction with our secretary, Claire Waring. After eight years with BAS she is standing down for a well deserved retirement. I have found her to be a font of all knowledge when it comes to BAS matters and she will be missed. On behalf of the membership, I would like to wish her a long and happy retirement – when I say retirement, I understand she is moving on to more projects that, in my book, are a long way from being retired. Good luck Claire and thank you from everyone. Now it’s time for some introductions. I would like to
welcome two new Board members, Peter Rossiter and Stuart Drysdale, who have joined since the AGM and are now co-opted and working. They are already throwing themselves into their new roles. Stuart has taken up the role of Chair for the National Welfare Committee and Peter is tasked with reinvigorating the suri focus group. They have also come to the Board at an exceptionally busy time and thankfully remain undeterred. With Claire going we have big shoes to fill. I would
like to introduce you to Sue Welch, the new BAS breed secretary. I’m sure that as the year progresses, you will get the opportunity to welcome her to the BAS. She has been working alongside Claire and Libby Henson at Grassroots over the past few weeks to get up to speed. Having spent some time with Sue I am convinced she is up to the task. She is enthusiastic and capable and proving to be efficient. We have employed her on a full time basis as the workload for the secretary is increasing. She has already taken over the secretaries email address and can be contacted at
secretary@bas-uk.com. She will also be given a dedicated phone line for calls. We will also be setting up a separate phone line for Grassroots and the registry. As soon as BT allocate the numbers we will update you, in the meantime continue using the same numbers as previously. The show season is now well underway and there are
still opportunities to use the BAS trailers. They are an excellent way to promote the Society and alpacas. They are easily towable and free to use. If you want to add that extra shine and polish to your show then the trailer will do just that. Contact Sue and she will book it out to you. You will need to provide a copy of your insurance document showing you are covered to tow. Finally, just before you delve further into the magazine,
I would like to give you an idea of how the Society is growing. In the past month we have registered 51 new members and registrations continue to flourish. Please remember that late fees are to be reintroduced in October so if you still have 2011 cria, or indeed older animals who are not yet on the registry, do get your applications in as soon as possible. If you need any help or guidance, please contact the registration team at Grassroots on
0845 331 2468 or email
info@bas-uk.com Shaun Daniel, BAS chairman
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