COVID-19 and the Effects on CFA

Updated information will be provided as available

December, 2021:

COVID waivers

The COVID attendee waiver form is now optional.

 October 5, 2021:

Central Office Update

Central Office staff are now back in the office.

September 2, 2021:

Central Office Staff Working from Home

Central Office staff will be working from home and the office will be essentially closed through at least the end of September, possibly longer.

A couple of employees will continue working from the office in Alliance. Mail will still be received and processed, show supply boxes shipped and show scoring packages received as usual. Certificates and pedigrees requiring printing will be printed and mailed once a week.
 
At this time, we request phone-in customers either contact an individual by email or leave a voice message in the general voice mail box and someone will return the call within 48 business hours.  We plan to have remote phone answering available next week.

Following is the list of individuals you may need to contact for questions you have during the temporary closure of the Central Office due to COVID-19. This is not a listing of all CFA employees. Your questions will be directed to the proper individual if applicable. 

Allene Tartaglia, atartaglia@cfa.org

Amanda Ganni (registrations), aganni@cfa.org

Amber Goodright (clubs), agoodright@cfa.org

Erica Minich (cattery names, certified pedigrees), eminich@cfa.org

Jen Brahler (registrations), jbrahler@cfa.org

Kay Chamberlain (payments, customer service), kchamberlain@cfa.org

Mindy Lyons (general questions, customer service), mlyons@cfa.org

Monique Van Eijk (registrations by pedigree), mvaneijk@cfa.org

Shirley Michaud-Dent (scoring, clerks), sdent@cfa.org

August 4, 2021:

COVID information for shows

The CFA Board has recently released an updated document containing suggested best practices for clubs and participants at CFA Events.  

The document is now available as a PDF, as well as a web page.

June 21, 2021:

New COVID advisory poster

The CFA Board has recently released a poster that clubs can download and print for their show, available as a PDF.

March 26, 2021:

COVID information for shows

The CFA Board has recently released an updated document containing suggested best practices for clubs and participants at CFA Events.  

The document is now available as a PDF, as well as a web page.

February 1, 2021:

Central Office Staff Working from Home

Central Office staff will be working from home and the office will be essentially closed for the foreseeable future (tentatively reopening April 1). There will be a skeleton crew in the office, however, we will be unable to answer phones live. Customers who phone the office will be asked to contact CFA by email or leave a message and someone will get back to them as soon as possible.

Certificates and pedigrees requiring printing will be printed and mailed once a week.

December 2, 2020:

2021 CFA International Show

Due to ongoing concerns with the coronavirus pandemic, the CFA Board voted to cancel the 2021 CFA International show in October.

October 8, 2020:

COVID waivers and information for shows

The CFA Board has recently released a document containing suggested best practices for clubs and participants at CFA Events.   In addition, clubs will be requiring particpants to sign a new COVID attendee waiver when arriving at the event.

April 29, 2020:

CFA International Show

Due to ongoing concerns with the coronavirus pandemic, the CFA Board voted to cancel the 2020 CFA International show in October.  The show will be held again in Ohio in 2021, with the judging slate already chosen for the 2020 show officiating at the 2021 show.

April 14, 2020:

Show Licenses Update

Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the CFA Board voted to extend the current moratorium on issuing show licenses for any show, regardless of show date or location to June 30, 2020. This motion may be revisited, ended early, extended or subject to individual case-by-case exceptions. Once the moratorium is lifted and show license applications are once again accepted, shows within the late fee window will not accrue a late fee.

March 26, 2020:

CFA Annual

The CFA Board met on March 25 to discuss the upcoming CFA Annual Meeting in June. Considering the smaller number of people who would be willing to travel, the disruptions to flight schedules, and the possibility of not being able to achieve a voting quorum, a motion was made and carried to cancel the 2020 Annual. Any delegate fees, banquet dinners, breed council breakfast, or Winn symposium reservations already paid will be reimbursed.

More information regarding proposals and voting will be announced in the near future. The balloting for Officers and Regional Directors will proceed as normal and the method of counting ballots will be announced at a later date.

March 23, 2020:

Office Closing

The Central Office will be closed as of tomorrow (March 24th, 2020). There will be a skeleton crew in the office, but phones will not be answered. This is the message which will be on the phones:

“Thank you for calling The Cat Fanciers’ Association. Our office is currently closed until June 2, 2020 due to a mandatory closure directed by the Governor of Ohio because of the Coronavirus. Please contact the individual you want to reach via email. A listing of email addresses is on the CFA website, cfa.org, click on the box titled “Coronavirus New/Updates for CFA”.  If you do not have access to the internet or email, leave a message and we will get back to you within 24-48 hours.”

What About Printed Certificates?

Printing and mailing of certificates (litters, cats, pedigrees, etc.) is suspended from March 24-April 7, 2020. Electronic versions will be sent when an email address is provided. Requests for printed certificates will be filled when the Central Office office building is open and fully staffed.

March 20, 2020:

Show Licenses

Our most recent decision as a board is to impose a moratorium on issuing new show licenses – equally around the world. This moratorium will continue through May 31, 2020.  We will continue to review our options as more information becomes available and this world crisis continues to unfold.  When the moratorium is lifted, we will waive late fees that would otherwise apply.

An expanding outbreak of respiratory illness referred to as COVID-19 continues to dominate the news and everyone’s attention, with most wondering how will their lives be affected, how to prepare, is it safe to travel anywhere, will I get the virus and so on.

At the direction of the CFA Board of Directors, all CFA shows have been cancelled effective Monday, March 16 through May 31, 2020. This was done in an effort to protect the health of our many loyal cat fanciers due to the spread of the coronavirus. Further show licenses received for this time frame will not be processed. These were difficult decisions for the Board to make, but the Board felt it was necessary.

CFA’s Coronavirus Response Team, headed up by Kathy Calhoun, will meet in the coming weeks to discuss what assistance CFA can provide to clubs whose shows were cancelled and if the minimums required for end-of-season awards should be modified. The team will present motions to the entire Board regarding these issues. The Board will monitor the impact of the virus and make decisions on when shows can return to production.

Many are wondering about the Annual Meeting scheduled for June 19-20 in Spokane, Washington.  As of March 16, the Annual is still on. The Board is doing due diligence and working with the hotel to mitigate losses should it become necessary to cancel and also working with a New York attorney to determine CFA’s options should we either not be able to hold the meeting, or if we do not get a quorum.  CFA is incorporated in the state of New York and their laws govern us, since our CFA Bylaws does not address what happens if we do not have a quorum or are not able to hold the Annual Meeting. In the meantime, each club should select a delegate to represent them at the Annual and submit the required notice to the Central Office.  It can be handled online at: http://catalog.cfa.org/annual.shtml#delegatefees  The form must be received by midnight on Wednesday, May 1st.

As more decisions are made regarding show scoring, licensing, and other related matters, they will be shared with you via both CFA-News announcements as well as on this page.  If you have questions or comments, please share them with your Regional Director or ID Committee Chair.

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