About the British Cavy Council

Jackie Raynor’s Brindle Abyssinian boar

The British Cavy Council (BCC) was established in 1977, following a directive from the National Cavy Club’s AGM. The inaugural meeting was convened in the autumn of 1977 at the London Championship Show. Harold Waterhouse (then President of the National Cavy Club) opened the meeting, before handing over to the Chair - Aubrey Roebuck. Brian Emmett took the role of Secretary. After the first two meetings it was agreed that the BCC would be organised by the Specialist Clubs and that the NCC would cease to be involved.

Fred Holmes became Chair in 1996, upon the death of Aubrey Roebuck. The mantle was passed to Bryan Mayoh in 2004 and then to the present incumbant, Steve Davies, in 2022.

During its lifetime, the BCC has supervised the induction of the Crested Cavy Club, the Rex Cavy Club, the National Fox and Tan Cavy Club, and the Teddy Cavy Club (2014).

The BCC has also overseen the full standardisation of the following breeds: the Dalmation, the Crested, the Coronet, the Rex (1984), the Self Dark eyed Golden, the Self Dark Eyed White (which had previously had its standard rescinded), the Satin, the Texel, the Self Buff, the Self Saffron, the Merino, the Alpaca, the Self Slate, the Fox (2008), the Tan (2008), and the Solid Agouti (2009), the Otter (2011), the PE Cream (2011), the Teddy (2011), the Self Blue (2019) the Californian (2024), the Chinchilla (2024), the Swiss (2024), the Tortoiseshell (2024). As well as a number of colour variations of existing breeds.

The purpose of the BCC is to adjudicate on the formation and remit of the Specialist Breed Clubs, and ensure they are run in a manner that best serves the interests of their members. You can view its objectives here

The British Cavy Council has a constitution and set of rules which govern its activity. Every Specialist Breed Club in the UK has agreed this constitution and is bound by it. You can view the BCC constitution and rules on screen here, or download a printable copy here.

In order to fulfil its obligation to ensure that Specialist Clubs are properly run in the interests of all of their members and of the Cavy Fancy as a whole, the BCC has prepared a draft set of recommended rules for Specialist Club usage. You can download a copy of the draft rules for Specialist Club usage here

The BCC is also responsible for determining the Breed Standards that are used when cavies are judged in the UK. You can find out more about the Breed Club Standards by following the links below:

Wash 2: Designed by Simon Neesam for the British Cavy Council © 2020