Dear Spaniel friends!

It is a great pleasure for the Czech Republic and also for me to take over the presidency of the European Spaniel Association (ESA) for the next years.
In the name of the organization I want to thank Mr. Reinhold Brechtel, the former chairman, for leading the organization with great care for the future. Special thanks also to his team for the  perfect organization of the last congress 2007 in Stockerau.

It was 45 years ago – in the year 1960 – when our organization was founded. At that time only a few countries of Middle Europe were members. The meetings took place only for exchanging experiences of the presidents of these clubs and judges. We still owe a lot to the initiatives of those days.

In 1970 the United Spaniel Association (GB) also became member and this caused a new era in our history. Since this moment it has been possible to get into direct contact with the Breed Clubs in the homeland of most of our breeds and also to discuss various questions about the standards. Most of the members of our organization are possibly not aware of the fact, that within the second part of the 70´s a ESA working committee with delegates from France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Austria were working on recommendations for adapting the standards of the various spaniel breeds. Most of these recommendations were accepted by the parent clubs in the UK and also ratified by the KC.
With beginning of the 80´s our organization dedicated more attention on breeding and health issues. Already at that time working groups were founded for fighting HD, PRA and Epilepsy. This way should avoid the spreading of inherited defects.
At that time the communication between the member countries was only via the European Spaniel Congress where delegates were sent to. Most of the clubs, who didn't send delegates regularly, lost contact to the ESA and finished their membership.
The time has been changed. With today's technical possibilities we have no problems anymore for an timely and effective information exchange. Make use of this advantage and make use of a active membership.

I’ll be glad to continue our way within Europe together with you!

Yours sincerely,
Zdenek Antonvic
ESA Chairman