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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. |
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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 the
breed the kitten buyers have not been able to get the
exact pattern and colour they wished for. At the moment
there are
30 Finnish breeders in the club, so lately we have
mainly managed to respond to the demand. |
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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. |
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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. |
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 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. |
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Anyone
can apply for membership of our club. The membership fee
for members
in Finland is 12,50€, in other European countries 15€ and
20€ for those
outside Europe (including postage). Click here to fill in the
membership application and follow
the instruction on how to pay. 31.12.2003 we had 400
members.
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