Registered Breeders Criteria 
Making a Commitment to Breeding Ragdolls

The British Ragdoll Cat Club strives to be the premier Ragdoll club worldwide, and as such want to ensure that only breeders who are fully committed to the breed are associated with the club. As such, the Code of Ethics will be enforced where necessary. The British Ragdoll Cat Club requires that Breeders registered with the Club must sign the undernoted declaration confirming that they fully understand and agree to abide by the items set out in the following Code of Ethics. 

Purpose of the Code of Ethics

• It is the aim of the Club to look after the general health and welfare of the Ragdoll reed and to set down reasonable guidelines within which Club registered Breeders must operate. 

Health & Welfare

• Every cat/kitten should be in excellent health when leaving the household or cattery. It should be free of any parasites, fungus or disease.
• It is required that the cat/kitten has completed a course of vaccinations administered by a veterinary surgeon against enteritis and cat 'flu at least 7 days before leaving the household or cattery (homeopathic vaccinations are not acceptable) and at the time the cat/kitten leaves home the vaccination card is given to the new owner. It is essential that the breeder's veterinary surgeon carries out a general health check and confirmation of sex when the kitten has its final vaccination. It is recommended that you discuss other vaccinations with your veterinary surgeon.
• All breeders MUST allow all prospective purchasers to view kittens under 6 months old interacting with their mother in their place of birth.
• It is recommended that breeders insure their kittens for at least the first 4 weeks after leaving their household or cattery and encourage new owners to continue the insurance.
• The breeder should provide the buyer with guidelines for feeding, grooming and raising a Ragdoll (care sheet).
• The health and welfare of the breeder's cats is their primary concern and the breeder should take appropriate steps to ensure this is maintained at all times. Steps must be taken to minimise the spread of disease between cats by restricting contact between at risk cats. A limit to numbers should ensure this is possible.
• A queen must be healthy and in good condition to be mated, and only as often as is appropriate for her wellbeing and in accordance with GCCF guidelines.
• All breeders must make use of any recommended health tests relevant to the Ragdoll breed in the GCCF Ragdoll Breed Registration Policy.
• All breeders must encourage the new owner to contact them should they need any help or advice and reply to any request promptly.
• All breeders must pro-actively assist in the rehoming of cats that they breed if an owner can no longer keep the cats for the whole of that cat's lifetime.
• Breeders should interact with fellow breeders and owners in a truthful and courteous manner.
• Whilst being a registered breeder with TBRCC breeders represent the club, therefore all communications are representative of the club. As such breeders are expected to communicate in a polite manner. They are also expected to respond to any Ragdoll enquiries in a timely manner, where possible.
• It is highly unethical to ask for a deposit before a kitten is born. The preferred time to take a deposit is after first health check and vaccination. 

Pedigree/Transfer Certificate/Test Results

• In accordance with the GCCF Rules 10a, 10b, the breeder MUST supply a 3-generation pedigree (parents, grandparents and great grandparents), complete with breed and registration numbers, at the time the cat/kitten leaves home together with a registration card, if this is available. If the registration card is not available, you MUST provide the new owner with a mating certificate to enable them to register the cat/kitten themselves.
• In accordance with the GCCF Rule 10c, if the cat/kitten is sold with a certificate to validate any genetic/veterinary test it must be micro chipped and the chip number must be on the test certificate, the accompanying vaccination record card and the veterinary practice record. 

Sale of Breeding Queens/Studs

• A kitten sold as a potential breeding queen or stud should be an outstanding example of the breed and conform closely to the Standard of Points.
• The breeder must ensure to the best of their ability that kittens sold for breeding should not be from lines with any known health problems nor have any defects as listed in the preface to the GCCF Standard of Points booklet. The exception to this rule is where a health defect is covered by the Ragdoll Registration Policy in the form of a Genetics Register. This information MUST be disclosed to the new owner at point of sale.
• All kittens sold with stud potential must have an accompanying Certificate of Entirety given to the new owner at point of sale.
• Under NO circumstances should studs be sold to a household with no females. You must not sell potential studs to households which have yet to breed and raise a litter of Ragdoll kittens. Any breeder selling a kitten with stud Potential must investigate the new owner's queen's pedigrees for compatibility with the new kitten.
• It is the SOLE responsibility of the breeder, selling any 'active' cats or kittens to be, or to provide, a mentor for any person to whom they have sold a Ragdoll with breeding potential, namely a cat or kitten sold, or to be sold as 'active'. 

Stud Services

• When offering stud services/taking a queen to stud TBRCC strongly recommends a pre-mating contract is signed clearly stating a time limit the girl is to remain with the stud owner. It is recommended that any contracts are exchanged PRIOR to any mating taking place.
• A stud owner must not accept into stud any queen that is registered on the non-active register with the GCCF, or whose registration with another bona fide organisation is endorsed 'not for breeding'.
• A stud owner must not accept into stud any queen that is not registered with the GCCF or any other bona fide registry (ie unregistered). The exception to this is when the GCCF Ragdoll BAC has given written permission.
• On completion of mating the stud owner MUST provide the queen's owner with a Mating Certificate and a copy of the stud's pedigree showing 3 generations (parents, grandparents, great grandparents) complete with breed and registration numbers. If the queen is registered with another organisation, it is the stud owner's responsibility to provide the appropriate certified pedigree to the queen's owner. 

Attendance at Seminars

• Probationary Breeders registered with the Club are required to have attended at least one day of The British Ragdoll Cat Club seminar. They can then apply to be a probationary registered breeder with the Club and be placed on the breeders list with 'PB' after their name. To become a full registered breeder, they must have raised a litter of kittens and attended both days of the seminar. If both days are attended in the same year, then a breeder will remain a Probationary Breeder for a minimum period of one year at which point they can become a Full Registered Breeder provided all criteria are met.
• It is strongly recommended that registered breeders do attend further seminars and Ragdoll BAC seminars to keep themselves up to date with all breed developments 

 Advertising

• Breeders registered with The British Ragdoll Cat Club may refer to the Club in any advertisements, literature, social media or web sites only for cats and kittens bred in strict accordance with the current GCCF Registration Policy, Breeding Policy and TBRCC Code of Ethics. 

Club Discipline

Members who are included in the Club's breeding lists will be removed from the said lists by the Committee for the following:

• Any breeder disciplined by the GCCF for contravening their Rules or Constitution.
• Any breeder who is proved to have broken the Code of Ethics.
• Any breeder selling any cat/kitten to pet shops of brokers or acting as brokers.
• Any breeder who deviates from the Club's advertising policy.
• Any breeder whose actions bring the Club into disrepute or those words or actions may be considered detrimental to the Club, its members or their cats.
• All breeders are expected to provide basic health and welfare, including living conditions for their cats and kittens, in accordance with RSPCA, SSPCA and government guidelines. Any breeders found guilty of any criminal offences in relation to local animal legislation or failure to meet local government requirements will be dismissed from the club with immediate effect.

Any breeder we remove from the Club's listings will have the reason for removal disclosed to all GCCF member Ragdoll breed clubs.