The situation for the Swedish PRE associationS is rather infected and complicated. This is my views of the recent development. I haven’t covered everything that’s happened, as that would result in a book. Or perhaps a good soap opera for TV? Worth considering perhaps 😉
A year ago I wrote a blog about the situation at the time with the associations. It can be read here (in Swedish).
Later last year a lot happened, that looked promising for the future. At the annual meeting a new charter was votes for and a new board elected. Everyone worked for a new and better association of course? Of course not…. Especially not considering the history of the Swedish PRE associations.
I was not involved with the annual meeting as I had a bit too much to handle in my life as it was.
In July LG PRE cancelled the contract with ANCCE Suecia (AS) regarding stud book services. We had to take this directly with Spain.
I had my life a bit more under control and use this service as I needed to register as the owner of my mare Danesa Casanova and to register for a breeder code. I also needed to get Endeno registered as a proper PRE. I loved this, it was super easy and quick! I emailed LG PRE, got my code, logged on to their website and made my payment. The owner card was sent sown to Spain and in less than 2 weeks in total I had my owner card back. No middle hands taking time, I’ve read of people that got to wait for 8 months to get their card back before.
I September I contacted Spain again in order to register Endeño. I wanted to know which vets to use for the identification and blood sample. This is where I should have started to suspect something. LG PRE replied that they did not know (!!!!!) which vets they approved, and would contact the Swedish association. AS, the only known association in Sweden at the time, never received any question regarding this from LG PRE. I reminded LG PRE a couple of times during the autumn, but only got excuses in reply. I also got other things to deal with and decided to wait until spring.
During the summer and autumn I followed the drama unfolding in AS with a lukewarm interest, not knowing what to believe or think.
The new board was not given the bookkeeping, protocols and other documents belonging to the association from the old board. The old board claimed it was confidential information and the new board was not allowed to handle it.
Meanwhile there was a pretty massive campaign from the old boards friends on social media towards the new board. Perhaps not particularly surprising, but more surprising was that the bailiffs /high court enforcers were called in to help the new board get the associations documents. I don’t know if this has ever happened before in Swedish history! The Kronofogde had never heard of it. And once wasn’t enough, THREE TIMES they had to do this in order to get enough documents for the new board to do their job.
As the new board received documents, bookkeeping and control of the associations funds a grim picture appeared. The association was heavily in debt to the Swedish tax authorities and had been fined thousands of SEK for late tax and VAT reports. There was also a big deficit resulting from a previous morphology show.
The morphology show that was planned for 2017 in Sweden had to be cancelled because of the economic situation and the fact that the new board didn’t have full control of all IT.
It was more urgent to save the association from having to declare bankruptcy. Meanwhile I saw some vile comments on social media from the friends of the old board because of the cancelled show…
At the time the bailiffs where called in and AS lost the stud book services with Spain parts of the new board left, making a lot of racket. (One left because she didn’t have time, needing to spend that time with her baby, and is not part of the problem) There were many hard words and talk of personal vendettas and whatnot. I didn’t know what to believe.
One of the most loud persons leaving the board was a person that had worked hard for years in order to get a new board and a new charter for AS. Someone who had declared she would NEVER be in a board containing the old boardmembers and their friends and who told a lot of less flattering things about them. Who claimed she didnät want anything to do with them ever. Remember this for later.
I was friends on facebook with this person, as I was involved with the new charter and had had a lot to do with her then. When she left I didn’t know what or who to believe. I chose not to pick sides, as the truth usually is somewhere in between. I also wanted to see what would happen with the bailiffs/Kronofogden.
As I wrote above, I was much pleased with doing my studbook services directly with LG PRE. Why complicate things with a middle hand? Am association is needed anyway, but not as a middle hand.
When accusations towards the new board started to fly a good friend of mine requested the case file from Kronofogden regarding AS case. This is always available to the public in Sweden. I also got them, as I really wondered what the hell was going on. The case file contains information from both sides and we wanted this to make our own opinion as to who was more right in this. My friend and I chose to back the new board after reading this material. We have also requested material from the court and in other issues to make our own opinion and to get more than one side of the matter
The new AS board had most of the documents needed from the new board in November. The annual meeting, after which the material should have been handled over immediately, was in April.. Not the original documents though, a lot of the information was blacked out. But at least they could do their job.
As they received the documentation it stood clear that several breeders owed the association money (the association with a deficit and tax debt..) for stud book services already performed. Services the association had already paied Spain for. Some breeders had had debts written off as well by the old board.
Now, what does this really mean? Well, nothing less than that ALL THE OTHER SWEDISH PRE BREEDERS HAD HAD TO PAY FOR THE SERVICES FOR THESE “CHOSEN ONES”!!!!! This is when I seriously blew a fuse. WTF!!!!!!
That the old board had given themselves honorarys that were not clearly stated in the books or the yearly revisions for the members does not make the picture less grim. Noone I know thinks it’s wrong to pay people for their work and time, but in a non-profit organisations this has to be decided by the annual metting, ie the members. The board cannot decide themseles to pay money to themselves. Rather basic, one should think. But this has not been decided by an annual meeting. If someone has a protocol stating this, please send it to me and the current board of AS.
As I said, a pretty grim picture. I have absolutely ZERO confidence for the old boardmembers and their friends. I was extremely relieved never to have paid them for anything and that I wouldn’t have to. Ha.Ha.Ha…
I January we got a new surprise. A brand spanking new (almost…) association that hade been founded at the same time AS lost the contract with LG PRE. The board is made up of guess who? Of course, the old board members and their friends, but also featuring some of the persons that left the new AS board. Apparently they now feel fine working with the people the shortly before despised so much. Apparently it was also OK to secretly have a new association and dealing with LG PRE for the stud book services and to throw a lot of shit at the people trying to save AS. Nice touch eh? I was incredibly impressed.. *SARCASM*
The rest of us got to hear of the new association i Januyary when LG PRE announced tha cooperation deal with this new association. The association’s web site went online at the same time as the announcement. It also FORCES Swedish breeders and PRE owners to go via this new association. At a higher cost, of course!
I looked at their charter and it is clear that they are doing their best to keep others out of the association. For example, they will have a temporary board for THREE YEARS, as you must have been a full, PRE owning member for three years before you can be elected as a board member. There are other strange paragraphs in the charter, it took a friend of mine whom is an expert on non-profit organisations over an hour to explain all the things that are strange. One of the worse parts of this is that the stud book services will be declared separately, meaning the members will not have any control over that part (the part of the association that handles a LOT of money…)
This didn’t just make me blow a fuse, the entire fusebox went, and the mains.. THIS is when I really decided to get involved, as this is nothing but a BLOODY OUTRAGE!
The old board left an association in debt, left the sinking ship like rats and in secret started a new association, and as they are friends with LG PRE took the stud book services with them to the new association. The brand new association, without a deficit, without tax and VAT debts to the Swedish tax authorities.
LG PRE in their turn have lied to all of the people that got involved with AS and worked for and voted for the new sharter and new board. LG PRE claimed to trust the democrati process in the Swedish association and would work with that, that the contract for the stud book services were with the association, not the individuals. But they never had any intention to do so as it tuned out.
The result is that Swedish PRE breeders and owners have to pay even more for stud book services that will take longer to do. To have no say or control of the association involved.
I have still not registered Endeño as PRE and have had some discussions with LG PRE regarding vets. Now I don’t know if I will continue as the situation is, and I absolutely REFUSE to put money in the pockets of this new association, as you might understand.
This is only a small part of all that’s happened and I don’t think its the last thing that will happen.
To be continued…