According to the Breed Group Rules of SACC, SECTION 3, any proposal to Breed Council must first be discussed with the relevant group before it can go up onto annual poll (Rules 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4).

There was no discussion, either verbal or in writing, on this matter with the CBG, or within the CBG.

From: The CBG Committee on behalf of our members.

It was not "simple" to obtain breed standard for the Chinchilla Longhair. A lot of resources, time and energy went into convincing the open minded amongst judges and breed group representatives that SA had indeed a group of cats that do not conform to the modern world standard of Persians, and that there was scientific evidence to justify a separate breed.

• How did the SA Chinchilla Longhair evolve?

• A good start.

The late Jeanne Ramsdale from the Dearheart Cattery, California, USA, had Chinchilla’s that were purebred for hundreds of generations. Stella Slabber imported adequate breeding stock from Jeanne during the 1970’s. History was made when the SA Cat of the year in 1980, Sp. Ch. Cherie Dear Niki, a direct descendant from the Dearheart lines, became the first ever supreme Longhair / Persian in SA. He played an important role in the Breed 99 gene pool. Some prominent SA lines that appear in the pedigrees of these cats are Cherie, Lovebug, Silvermist, Brickhill and Gardenia.

• Very Pure Breeding Practise

Stella and a few co-breeders based their breeding practices on Jeanne Ramsdale’s book "Persians Cats and other Longhairs" (1976, reprinted 1994). No out-crossing with other Persian types were allowed. They followed a "Very Pure" (VP) breeding practice.

• Closed Gene Pool

For thirty years a relatively closed gene pool of Breed 10 cats got propagated in SA. One key reason for this was the VP breeding practice. Secondly, due to the isolation of SA during the "apartheid" years and economic constraints of the breeders, very few new genes were imported from other countries during this period.

• Not updating the Gene Pool

• Meanwhile, outside of SA, a trend towards extreme breeding and introduction of new colours in Persian breeding programs, lead to the current "world" Standard.
• Inside of SA, the closed gene pool was not "updated".
• After thirty years of isolation, the differences between cats from the SA Longhair Chinchilla gene pool and new imports that were subject to grow into the current Chinchilla Persian standard, became apparent.
• The SA Chinchilla Longhair gene pool features a sustainable uniqueness and propagation capability that justified declaring it as a separate breed.

• Chinchilla Longhair is a "preserved" breed

The Chinchilla Longhair is therefore not really a "new" breed, but a "preserved", proven breed that differs from the modern Persian standard.

• Chinchilla Longhair is a breed in its own right

With the acceptance of Breed 99 in 1996, open-minded SACC judges acknowledged two things:

• The SA Chinchilla Longhair is different from the modern Chinchilla Persian standard.
• The SA Chinchilla Longhair has a right to exist as a differentiated breed in SA.

• SACC’s Choice

• The 1999 SACC Persian/Exotic Voting Ballot published an unexpected attack to abolish Breed 99.
• In response, the Chinchilla Breeders’ Group appealed to the Governing Council to scrap the point off the voting ballot, because the proposal was not dealt with according to the correct constitutional procedures, and as such was out of order.
• If the appeal for scrapping the Point 11 fails, and the Chinchilla Longhair gets voted out, the real challenge for SACC is to justify constitutionally why the 1996 approval needs to be reversed.

• The Chinchilla Breeders’ Group, who applied for the breed in 1996, has constitutional rights within SACC. However, CBG were not consulted in the matter of abolishing their breed.
• The CBG has 28 members, of which about half are breeders.
• The CBG has established international presence and awareness for the cause of the SA Chinchilla Longhair. The web site aroused interest from the SilverGolden Breed Group from the USA, who voted it as one of the best informative web sites on Chinchilla world-wide.
• If the breed is abolished, SACC needs to advise what is to happen with the cats that are currently registered as Breed 99.
• SACC also will have to advise what is to happen with the championship awards that were already awarded on shows. (The motivation for abolishment incorrectly stated that the cats are not shown. However, one Breed 99 cat progressed to the level of being awarded 2 Supreme Certificates, and she is in the run as a potential Cape Cat of the Year finalist).

• What is different about the Chinchilla Longhair?

The current SA Chinchilla Longhair cats are virtually the same as those that were imported thirty years ago, except that they are generally smaller than their ancestors.

• The Persian standard requires a "cobby" cat. The Chinchilla Longhair standard allows for a medium body size.
• Compared to the Chinchilla Persian Standard, their noses are too long. They definitely do not have "snub" noses, but feature strong, healthy noses that came with their original ancestors. The ideal is to have a nose that is equal in length and breadth.
• Their ears are of medium size and not small as required in the Persian standard.
• They are not prone to the head faults that got introduced by extreme breeding, like tearing, jaw misalignment, snoring and loss of mascara liners.
• The soft coat texture was preserve. (Out crossing reported irreversible lost of texture).
• It is anticipated (but not verified) that the hair shaft is still translucent and free from pigmentation, which may not be the case in modern Chinchilla Persians that were out crossed to introduce different colours.

• Why the fuss?

Simply, because different cat breeders have different passions which direct their actions.

On the one extreme we have conservative Chinchilla breeders who are passionately opposed to updating the original look and type of the Chinchilla. They see the abolishment of the Chinchilla Longhair as fierce opposition and animosity towards the breeders who try to preserve their beloved "fairy cats" for posterity. They fear that out-crossing may result in the irreversible loss of the original genetic properties of their "fairy cats".

On the other extreme we have progressive Chinchilla breeders who are passionately busy to experiment with new colours and breeding toward the extreme Persian standard. They see the preservation of the Chinchilla Longhair Standard as not scientifically justifiable and a step backwards.

• Can we make peace?

• Irrespective of the outcome of the appeal, the issue on "Chinchilla Longhair or Not Chinchilla Longhair" will crop up each year unless it can be resolved to the satisfaction of the people who oppose of the breed.
• The Chinchilla Breeders’ Group appeals to fellow SACC members for open discussion. We invite the people that are unhappy about the breed to communicate directly with us, and not via the annual ballot.
• We believe in the principle of "first understand, then be understood." We want to under-stand why there is such a strong pro-active desire to abolish the Chinchilla Longhair. We do not threat the existence of anybody.
• We believe there is enough sun in SA to shine on all our cats, also for this particular, pure breed that got "left behind" or "preserved" over the past 30 years.
• Our values are to treat our fellow breeders with respect, love and dignity. We therefore hope that the matter can be resolved in an amicable way and appeal to fairness from the Governing Council to uphold their previous decision and allow Breed 99 to continue.