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Candidate for TICA Maine Coon Breed Committee
Elizabeth D. Flynn - Tansai Maine Coons
ELECTED
 Fellow Maine Coon Lovers,
I am running for the TICA Maine Coon Breed Committee once again. I
hope that I will be able to count on your support in this election as I have in
the past. Our Breed Committee is a hard-working and devoted group of Maine Coon
breeders who desire the best for our breed and wish very much to continue to
contribute to the growth and development of the Maine Coon.
TANASI cattery began in the early 1980s after I purchased my first Maine
Coon girl from Vicki Shipp (TALSHIPP); Betsy True soon won the hearts of the
whole family, and my son asked if he and I could have another cat from Vicki
when the following year's litter was born. And thus it came about that Talshipp
Sara Devine of Tanasi began our long stand with the Maine Coon.
I joined the Maine Coon Breeders and Fanciers Association and became a full
Breeder Member in 1986. Since then I have served MCBFA in several leadership
roles, including chairing several revisions of the By-Laws, revision of the
Code of Ethics, and and holding offices such as Fancier Member Secretary,
Breeder Member Secretary, Vice-President, and currently again as Breeder Member
Secretary.
My mother brought me up to believe that one gives back to associations in
proportion to what has been received from that membership, a dictum which
I follow faithfully. I am a working member and the Show Manager for Cattyshack
Cats, Alabama Paws and Claws, Hotlanta Cool Cats. I can usually be found at any
cat show doing whatever needs to doing at the moment, be it putting up new
trash bags or hanging tomorrow's rosettes.
I also participate annually in the CSRA Humane Society's Pet-A-Fair, their
major fund-raising activity, talking about cats, cat shows, and answering
questions, and I donate the rosettes handed out to the Best Cat, Best Dog, and
Best Other Pet in each year'c contest.
I have served on the Maine Coon Breed Committee for several terms, notably
during the time of the last major revision of the MC Standards under the
direction and guidance of Beth Hicks. I have participated in similar endeavors
and truly can say that we all learned much from the cooperative and organized
approach which Beth gave us at that time.
I have seen the same techniques working well for Laura Cunningham, our present
BC Chair; differences in approach are discussed, weighed carefully, presented in
as clear a fashion as possible.
The current subject of allowing the polydactyl MCs to be shown in championship
can be a divisive one. Feelings tend to run high on what is at base an
emotional issue. TICA's rules are very clear on what is and what is not
accepted in the Maine Coon standard, and polydactylism is not allowed.
While I personally have no quarrel with anyone who wishes to use polydactyls
in a breeding program, I do oppose permitting the polys to participate in
championship status against the traditional Maine Coon, which has spent many
years accepted in championship status, as it meets the standards for the Maine
Coon breed.
I am not entering into matters of "fair or unfair" here; the Breed Section
denied the application to accept Polydactyls into championship status. The
issue was voted upon properly and in accordance with the rules of TICA.
Liz
Flynn
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