Mini Foxie Club of Australia, Inc.
The Mini Foxie Club of Australia, Inc. (formerly known as the Miniature Fox Terrier Club of Australia) is an independent breed club dedicated to the promotion and preservation of the Miniature Fox Terrier dog breed.
The Mini Foxie Club of Australia Inc. holds Mini Foxie shows, maintains the Mini Foxie Breed Register, produces a quarterly newsletter and has direct communication with its many members. According to Christine Crawford, the Publicity Officer, the club has a highly democratic ethos and member participation is vital and lively. In the early 1980s, breeders and fanciers began meeting informally to discuss the future of this endemic Australian breed. The political climate suggested that Breed-Specific Legislation to restrict the breeding of non-pedigreed dogs may have been imminent, and it was felt that formal organization would be necessary to safeguard the breed?s future.
On the 20th July, 1986, several owners met at Warwick Farm, Sydney and formed the Miniature Fox Terrier Club of Australia. Gordon Grant was the founding president. The Club drafted a Constitution and wrote a breed standard with the assistance of members of the Royal New South Wales Canine Council.
A significant three-day meeting was held in 1992 at Mason Farm in Deniliquin, NSW. This time enthusiasts were joined by owners from South Australia, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory to consider amalgamating the clubs that had formed in those areas. It became evident that there were differences over the type of dog that would exemplify the Miniature Fox Terrier. Another point of departure was whether or not seeking recognition by an all-breed registry should be an immediate priority; many MFTCA members felt that more time was needed to improve and standardize the breed.
The SA, VIC and ACT owners later organized under the banner of the Tenterfield Terrier. The breed standard of the Tenterfield Terrier has different conformation points from that of the Miniature Fox Terrier.
To comply with New South Wales government requirements the Miniature Fox Terrier Club became incorporated as The Mini Foxie Club of Australia in 1992.
The MCFA is one of a few breed clubs that reclassify pedigree puppies after one year, to ensure that they are acceptable for breeding. Adult dogs are graded according to how well they fit the breed standard. An adult dog of pedigree parents must be judged superior to each parent in order to receive a higher grading than its parents. This type of vigilance in breeding has proved to be highly successful for breed clubs such as that of the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. A downside to such strict regulation may be that there are fewer dogs on the breed registry.
