The Finnish Ragdoll Club
In the autumn of 1992, the first pair of Ragdolls, seal bicolour Dangle-Duck's Cinderella and blue colourpoint Frodo II Zur Riegelfeste, moved to our northern country from Germany. Since then more and more Ragdolls have arrived, and it was in the autumn of 1993 that the first litter was born in Finland to the above-mentioned "couple". As the number of Ragdolls grew, the most enthusiastic fans of this breed decided to found the Finnish Ragdoll Club. It was the starting principle of those eight enthusiasts to ensure that Ragdoll breeding in Finland is in accordance with commonly accepted goals as well as to promote the breed and make it better known to all Finns. The club has succeeded outstandingly in its goal: Ragdolls have made their appearance several times in the Finnish media, and owing to the exceptional popularity of 30 the breed the kitten buyers have not been able to get the exact pattern and colour they wished for. At the moment there are over 60 Finnish breeders in the club, so lately we have mainly managed to respond to the demand. In 1993 the two first issues of our club magazine were published. Since then the magazine has grown bigger and improved its appearance as the club has expanded. Today, it is a quarterly publication with plenty of information on the breed itself, on breeding and shows. Each magazine includes show results of all Finnish Ragdolls, introductions to new Ragdolls and a Breeder's Profile. There are also informative articles, and the vet's column. Although the magazine is in Finnish, there is a 3 - 5 page summary in English at the end of the magazine. Three times during the history of the club we have had cause for celebration. In 1997, when the colourpoints got their recognition in FIFe as a valid Ragdoll pattern, we celebrated in the year's first cat show with champagne and cake. In the spring of 1998, we celebrated the club's fifth anniversary. The third occasion was at the first show of the year 1999, when mitteds received FIFe recognition. Now all Ragdoll patterns were valid to compete for the championship status in FIFe shows. In addition to the magazine, our club organises presentation shows. These presentation shows aim at promoting the different breeds, and there are no judges nor evaluation of cats. The Finnish Ragdoll Cat Club has organised a presentation show each year with the exception of last year, when our club organised a special show of Ragdolls in conjunction with a normal cat show. In most of the cat shows, there is a club stand where we sell handicrafts made by club members and Ragdoll patterned bric-a-brac. We intend to organise events for the members and breeders, depending on the interest shown and on our funds. The Best Ragdoll of the Year trophy has been awarded to the Ragdoll that has best succeeded in the shows during the year.
Anyone can apply for membership of our club. The membership fee for members in Finland is 15,00€, in other countries 20,00 €. 31.12.2017 we had over 500 members. |