DCA MEMBERS LIST RULES
(Revised April 2022)
PURPOSE
The DCA email discussion list is an Internet resource provided by the Dalmatian Club of America (DCA) to its members through subscription
only. The list is a forum to facilitate the business of the DCA and to post announcements on topics of interest to list members.
Specifically, this list provides a way for the DCA board and members to:
- communicate notices of meetings, events and the various functions or projects of the DCA and regional specialty clubs; and
- be informed about the activities of the DCA board of governors or matters of business the board deems of immediate importance to DCA
members.
ACCESS
Access to the DCA email list will be restricted to members of the DCA. Access is considered a benefit of
membership and is subject to any pertinent DCA By-Laws or Ethics Guidelines that may apply. By subscribing to
the DCA email list, each member agrees to read the list rules and directives in their entirety and abide with
them completely. Access to the DCA email list may be denied or suspended in response to violations of the DCA
email list policies and rules.
DCA Email List Policy
Above all other policies and rules, of primary importance is the requirement for civility and decorum, which
will be mandatory. Inappropriate remarks or behavior will result in the immediate suspension of the
offending member’s DCA email list privileges. The instance of an alleged violation will be reviewed for further
action by the list administrators using reasonable and prudent evaluation. If a member is found to be in violation
of civility and decorum, depending upon the nature of the violation, one (1) and only one warning may be issued
by the administrators. Any further failure to follow DCA policy will in result in suspension from the list.
Likewise, if the violation is found to be egregious, immediate suspension, without warning, will occur.
Suspensions may be temporary, in rare instances, or, most likely, permanent. It is the express duty of the DCA
member using the list to maintain civility and decorum, knowing full well the responsibilities and consequences
of their postings to the list.
COURTESY GUIDELINES
To facilitate the productive and ethical use of the DCA email list, participants are expected to follow these
courtesy guidelines:
- Mail sent through DCA Members List is copyrighted by the original author. Be courteous and ask
permission before forwarding or redistributing in any manner.
- Be relevant. Questions and comments should relate to the topics of the list’s purpose and most replies
should be directed to the original poster, not to the list as a whole.
- Be concise. Keep paragraphs and messages short and to the point. Give your message a clear, concise
subject line. Excessively long posts to the list should not be made and will be filtered.
- Be civil. Do not post inflammatory messages.
- No private discussions to or from list members should be made on the list. Personal communications should
be conducted by private individual email.
- The DCA Members List is for email communications of the DCA membership regarding Dalmatians and DCA business.
- Cross posting to and from other lists should be limited and is at the discretion of the moderators. The
intention is that lists are not to be duplicates of each other.
- DCA members, acting as proxies, will not be permitted to post statements and opinions from non-DCA members relating to any issues.
- Trim posts and remove excess information from replies.
- If a DCA list member is upset about a post please contact the List Admin
and allow the administrators to handle the situation.
- Do not email offensive, inflammatory remarks relating to list matters to individuals privately and do not
respond to the list with inflammatory replies. These offenses will fall under the DCA policy on civility and will
be adjudicated accordingly.
EMAIL CONTENT GUIDELINES
- Emails regarding official DCA business or upcoming national or regional Dalmatian-related events
may be posted.
- DCA committee chairs or members should not use their DCA title in personal opinion posts nor those
not specifically containing DCA committee business.
- Posts relating to DCA business by DCA committee chairs or members should not include personal
information such as kennel names, web addresses or lists of dogs owned.
- Posts must have a completed subject line identifying the subject of the post.
- Personal conversations regarding list topics are to be private and off-list but must remain civil
pursuant to the courtesy guidelines.
- Whereas the DCA is a breed specific Specialty Club, show results and brags are allowed. However, these
should be limited to Dalmatians only and should say "Brags" or "Show Results" in the subject line.
- Litter announcements and links to litter photos are permitted and should reflect that content in the
subject line.
- Announcing dogs or puppies available or for sale is not permitted.
- Announcing items for sale is not permitted.
- Requests for personal charity are permitted by a third party on a case by case basis and with board
approval.
- DCA Foundation announcements of fundraising efforts and auctions items for sale are permitted.
- Dalmatian rescue postings will be limited to Dalmatian Club of America Rescue Education rescue announcements
only unless otherwise approved by the board.
- Off-topic “junk” mail such as chain letters, virus warnings, Good Samaritan notices, email surveys and
other non-DCA business are not permitted.
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