Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe)
The Fédération Internationale Féline (or FIFe) is a federation of cat registries.
The FIFe (see official site) is composed of 41 members from 39 countries and presently has two aspiring members under patronage. The members are autonomous federations or associations which have chosen to follow the same rules with regard to the breed standards, cattery names, shows, judges and student judges.
One individual has been made an honorary member.
Founded by Madame Marguerite Ravel, the federation was unofficially started in 1949 in Paris, France. At their first General Assembly in Ghent, Belgium, the federation was officially founded. The original name was Fédération Internationale Féline d'Europe or FIFE. In 1972 the Brazilian Cat Club joined, making it necessary to change the Euro-centric name of the federation. The "d'Europe" was dropped, and the abbreviation was changed to FIFe.
The emphasis of the federation is on the health and well-being of their cats.
The organisation
The Executive Board of the FIFe is the co-ordinating body on the international level. The board is made up of six people from the member countries who are elected by the members; they manage the organisation according to its statutes. There are five supporting Commissions whose responsibility is to implement the decisions of the General Assembly and the Board. These are: the Judges & Standard Commission; Breeding & Registration Commission; the Show Commission; the Health & Welfare Commission; and the Disciplinary Commission. The democratic structure of the organisation guarantees each member equal voting rights at the General Assembly, which convenes annually to discuss and vote upon the proposals of the members, to elect new officers, debate new regulations and accept common strategies.
FIFe has always had good relations with all the major cat organisations of the world. Its official seat is in Luxembourg and its official languages are French, German and English. The Secretariat is administered by the FIFe General Secretary, who handles the daily affairs for all the members; these include the co-ordination of show dates, the processing of cattery names data and the administrative work of judges' examinations.
Some statistics:
- 206 International Judges
- 7 National Judges
- 130 Student Judges
- well over 100.000 members within the Federation
- well over 110.000 pedigrees and 3000 cattery names a year are registered
- well over 650 shows per year with more than 200.000 cats exhibited