BLCS rocked by call of no confidence in council
After several months of internal wrangling following the allegation of fraudulent activity by one of its breeders, the British Limousin Cattle Society yesterday was rocked by a call of no confidence in the council of the society.
The resign call comes from a legal firm representing a number of Limousin breeders and it has the support of no fewer than nine former chairmen of the society.
It lists a number of reasons behind the call of no confidence.
The first is the council’s decision to allow the bull with the disputed pedigree back into the herd books before then retracting that decision.
Those calling for the special meeting describe the initial decision as bringing “the breed into general disrepute and ridicule within the industry”.
The scale of unrest in the society was highlighted by the recent resignations of four members of the council, including two former chairmen.
The disappearance of chief executive Iain Kerr, who was put on gardening leave two months ago, was also raised as an issue by those wishing a special meeting. No information has been forthcoming on Kerr’s future with the society but a former executive has been brought back in on a temporary basis.
Another four staff members, including project manager polly goldie, have left in the past 12 months.
Those calling for a meeting have also raised concerns over poor financial management, with a record trading loss of around £200,000.
This, the petitioners claim, is the first time in more than 30 years that a trading loss has been recorded for this previously very successful breed society.
Those petitioning for a special meeting also claim that budget warnings have been ignored and members will shortly have to pay increased fees. For there to be an extraordinary general meeting more than 5 per cent of the membership will have to support the motion.
The scale of the problem appears to be snowballing, with more than 60 cattle from the Ballinloan herd at Dunkeld now deregistered by the society, as a result of the British Cattle Movement Service removing their passports.
This action has been carried out because of errors in either the date of birth of the animal or because of doubts over the parentage.
The deregistration will not only affect the animals but will also affect all the direct progeny.
This could be significant and widespread, with many of the animals having been sold to breeders across the country years ago.
The society has also informed members that investigations into another 11 Ballinloan cattle are continuing.
The police investigating the allegations of fraudulent behaviour since early summer said last week that “inquiries are still continuing”.