Purebred Pigeon SepOct 2024

26 – Purebred PIGEON 1971. We have always been adamant in stating that the Middle Eastern pigeons in America have become their own separate entities and that we were not looking into modifying extant standards. Instead we aimed for opening new entries under their original native names and standards built from scratch. The reception was overall positive – we deeply appreciate the efforts and the openness of the RBPC and their advice has certainly been of great help, albeit we expected to face some form of resistance and we sure did from a few isolated breeders who did not necessarily keep the breeds in dispute. The first MEPC birds were exhibited at the 2018 Salt Lake Premier Show and we had our first chance at taking the field as a fully fledged club the day we got invited to judge a Damascene in the 2020 Grand National Show in Amarillo, Texas under our Booz standards. As stated in their bylaws, all breeds or breed groups that are not sponsored by a well-set- tled specialty club, or belonged to a club that became inactive or disbanded, are eligible to be listed as Rare Breeds and therefore taken under the RBPC. The degree of rarity and there- fore eligibility of a breed should be assessed yearly by a specialist committee. Hundreds of Middle Eastern birds were being shipped out from the Levant and the Persian Gulf each year so this was already becoming a change of tide for the RBPC. Their bylaws also mention that new clubs can only apply for sponsorship of a breed at the Grand National once they have been affiliated with the NPA for two years, so until that requirement is met, the RBPC pledges to co-sponsor the breed with the new club at the show hall. For the time being, the new MEPC club can hold its own meets, hold joint meets with the RBPC, or delegate the responsibilities to the RBPC if their membership is relatively thin. Once the period is met, the new club can decide whether to keep co-sponsoring the breed or discontinuing the relationship. From the very Grand Champion at the 2019 Southern Pigeon Club - Azazy Rehani bred by Charles Khater MEPC Best Old at the 2023 Rocky Mountain Pigeon Fanciers Summit - Gergati Jelf bred by Keaton Taylor Medals at the 2023 Rocky Mountain Pigeon Fanciers Summit