| You are correct that there must be evidence. That would only be fair under any procedure. Another thing in favor of the code clubs however is the requirement that all puppies be sold with a written contract! This helps establish the paper trail as you might expect.
I'd have to look up if there is a time limit, however I believe that the only limit would be that the offense be during a time of membership. A club cannot discipline for something that did not occur at a time when an agreement to abide by the codes is agreed to. It also of course cannot act in reference to non-members. There is a deposit for filing a grievance which is to discourage frivolous complaints but that deposit is returned if the grievance is found to be a valid complaint of violation of the code. This has occured enough that I know it to be adhered to.
The horrible thing about the incident you referred to is that the dog in question has been used for breeding! The club (MRC ;) ) acted very strongly and did not sweep anything under the rug. There was no favoritism shown even though the offender had status.  |