PEACE RIVER SCHUTZHUND BY-LAWS CLUB Article I - Organization NAME: 1. The name of the organization shall be Peace River Schutzhund Club. 2. The organization shall be a non-profit club organized under the laws of the State of Florida. Article II - Objectives The nature, objective and purpose of the organization shall not be for gain or profit to the officers, members or employee thereof. The specific purpose for which it is formed are as a not-for-profit, charitable and education to proclaim the following objectives: A. The promotion of the working dog for Schutzhund and rescue work. B. To support any movement that demonstrates the advantages of Schutzhund training. C. To support and organize trials for Schutzhund dogs. D. To interest the public in Schutzhund training and rescue work as being a benefit to the public. E. Any additional objectives as the board of directors may announce by resolution. APPLICATION: Article III - Membership Application to the membership of the organization shall be made to the secretary or in their absence to the vice-president, in writing, upon forms provided by the organization. Honorary members shall be appointed by a majority vote by the board of directors. Invites are allowed to visit up to three times without making application to becoming a member of the club. All handlers will be required to fill out a holds Harmless Agreement before being allowed to work a dog. Article IV - Meetings A. PLACE OF MEETINGS: The board may designate any place, either within or out of the State of Florida, as the place of meeting for any annual, special or board meeting called by the board. 3
B. ANNUAL MEETING: The annual membership meeting shall be held during the month of September and each September thereafter. The board shall set the date of such meeting. The members shall elect a board of directors and transact such business as may properly come before the meeting. At least two weeks prior to the meeting date, the secretary shall mail to every member in good standing at the members address as it appears on the membership roll, notice of the time and place of such annual meeting. C. REGULAR MEETINGS: Regular meetings of the board shall be held upon call of the president or a majority board with one week notice but not less than quarterly. of the Regular meetings of the entire membership, as aforesaid, shall not normally be required. All business affairs of the organization should be, as far as practicable, transacted by the board. The board may make such rules and regulations covering matters as it may, in its discretion, determine necessary. D. SPECIAL MEETINGS: Special meetings of the members may be called by the board, the president, or by written request of the majority of the members. The notice of any such special meeting shall state the purpose of the meeting, the time and place thereof and shall bemailedtoeachmember.being entitled to vote at any such meeting, not less than ten nor more than thirty days before the date of such meeting. Special meeting of the board shall be held upon notice to the officers and the directors and may be called by anyone of these, upon three days notice to each, either personally or by mail. E. GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING: The presence, in person or proxy, of not less than two thirds of the members in good standing on the membership roll, shall constitute a general membership meeting and shall be necessary to conduct the business of the organization. F. QUORUM: Two thirds of the members of the board shall constitute as a quorum and must be present either in person or proxy and is needed in order to conduct the business of this organization. G. VOTING: Every member shall be entitled at any meeting, annual, special, or general to vote upon each proposal present provided that said member is in good standing and fees are paid as specified in article III paragraph F. H. PROXIES: Any member in good standing, being entitled to vote, may be represented and vote by proxy instrument given to a member and such proxy shall entitle the holder thereof to all the rights of the said member unless the instruments shall provide otherwise. 4
I. GUEST: Members may bring their guest to any meeting and/or training session but in no instance may enter into the activities of the club during training hours except by invitation of the president and/or training director and then must sign a holds harmless agreement. A. OFFICERS, ELECTION, AND TERMS: B. PRESIDENT: Article V-Officers 1. The officers of this club shall be elected by the members in good standing by secret ballot. This election is to be held at the annual meeting in September. 2. The members shall elect a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and training director. They will have duties and powers as hereinafter provided. 3. All officers shall be elected and hold office for a period of two years(effective election September 1998), namely October 1st till September 30th or until their successors have been elected. 4. The board of directors may appoint a successor to fill any unexpired term. 5. No salaries will be paid. The president shall be chief executive officer of this club and shall have the same powers and duties of supervision and management usually vested in the office of president of a corporation. The president shall preside at all meetings, shall act as executive head of the organization at all times and shall be a member of all committees of the club. He shall preside at all meetings of the membership and in the absence or non election of the chairman of the board of directors shall authorize or restrict, he shall execute all bonds, mortgage or other contracts in behalf of the organization and shall cause the seal to be affixed to any instrument requiring it. Any bonds, mortgages or other contracts an officer may execute in behalf of the organization, he shall not be held individually liable and the club shall defend said officer on all actions arising from the signing of said instruments. C. VICE PRESIDENT: During the absence or disability of the president shall have all the powers and function of the president. D. TREASURER: The treasurer shall have custody of the organizations funds and security, keep full and accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements in the books, deposit all money and other organization valuables in the name of or to the credit of the organization in such depository as may be designated by the board. They shall disburse the funds of the organization as may be ordered or authorized and render to the president and the membership a statement of the accounts at regular and/or annual meetings of the club or whenever the president or board requires it. They shall render a statement of the financial condition of the organization to the auditing committee whenever they require it. At the annual meeting the treasurer shall report the full financial condition of the organization. 5
E. SECRETARY: The secretary shall attend all meetings annual, regular or general and all board meetings. Shall keep record of all votes and minutes of all meetings, shall have charge of all correspondence and shall keep the enroll membership. The secretary shall keep the seal of the organization, shall affix it to any instruments when authorized by the board or president to do so. Shall maintain a list, in alphabetical order of all members in good standing entitled to vote at the meetings of the organizations and shall perform any other duties as may be assigned by the president. F. TRAINING DI.RECTOR: The training director shall be in charge of all organizational activities at the training grounds during normal training hours. A member must attend 5 consecutive club training days/nights prior to any trial before Training Director will sign Trial entry form. The Training director or his designee will observe all 3 phases of Schutzhund (Obedience, Protection, and Tracking). The training director at his discretion can make exceptions. He shall be a member of the organization. A. GENERAL: Article VI-Board of Directors The business of this organization shall be managed by a board of directors consisting of the nine members, including the five members officers of the organization. The four non-officer members of the board shall be elected at the annual meeting for a term of one year. Nominations for the four positions of the non-officers shall be in writing stating the name of the nominee and shall be directed to the secretary at least 10 days prior to the annual meeting and the said shall be endorsed by not less than two additional members in good standing. In the event there are not enough members willing to serve, then an officer may be elected in the position of a director. B. VACANCIES: If the office of any director becomes vacant, the members of the board at a regular or special meeting called for that purpose by a majority vote of the board present may elect any qualified person to fill such vacancy and hold office for the unexpired term. C. REMOVAL OF DIRECTORS: A director may be removed with cause by a vote of the majority of the members entitled to vote at a special meeting called for that purpose. D. THE MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS: The board, by resolution, may designate two or more of their members to form a committee which, to the extent in any such resolution or by the by-laws, may exercise the powers of the board in the management of the business of the organization. The committee is limited to board members. Article VII-Amendment These by-laws may be altered, repelled and/or amended by two thirds vote of the board at any regular or special meeting for that purpose. They may be altered, repelled and amended by the members of this organization at the annual meeting by a two-thirds majority of all members present entitled to vote at such annual meeting. 6
Article VIII-Loans, checks, deposits and contracts A. LOANS No loan shall be contracted on behalf of the organization and no evidence of indebtedness shall be issued in its name unless authorized by a resolution of the board members. B. CHECKS, DRAFTS, ETC.: All checks, drafts or other orders for the payment of money, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued in the name of the organization shall be signed by such officer or officers, agent or agents of the organization and in such manner as shall from time to time be determined by the resolution of the board. C. DEPOSITS: All funds of the organization, not otherwise employed, shall be deposited to the credit of the organization in such bank, trust company or depositories as the board may select. D. CONTRACTS: All contracts, deeds, mortgages, leases, bills of sale and other documents shall be signed in the organization's name by the president or the vice president, unless otherwise required by law, or unless otherwise permitted by resolution of the board. Article IX-The Empowered Representative The organization, at each annual meeting, will elect from the general membership a person who will be the corporate delegate to the parent organization, the DVG. This delegate must be an active member in good standing with the organization. They must not have any disciplinary actions pending from the DVG. All dues payable to both the organization and DVG must be paid.. The delegate must be empowered to represent the organization in all matters. The delegate will begin their one year term as the organizations empowered representative of the board of directors of the DVG effective with the annual meeting of the DVG in the month of June each year. Article X-Corporate Dues to DVG This organization must pay to the treasurer of the DVG an annual fee as prescribed by that organization, upon the date of affiliation with DVG and every year thereafter, and an other dues called upon by DVG. Article XI-Fiscal Year The fiscal year shall end August 31st of each year. 7
Article XII-Order of Business The order of business of the organization shall be subject to the agenda as set and established by the president. Robert's Rules of Order shall apply to the manners of the conduct for all meetings. Article XIII-Dissolution The organization may dissolve at any time by the written consent of not less than two-thirds of the full members. In the event of dissolution, other than for the purpose of reorganization whether VOluntary or involuntary or by the operation of law, none of the assets of the property of the organization nor the proceeds thereof shall be distributed to the members of the club. After payment of all debts of the organization, its property and assets shall be given to an organization for the benefit of dogs which will be previously selected by the members at a regular or special membership meeting. 8