In 1994 the Italian cat club, Associazione Nazionale Felina Italiana, organised a major event in the cat fancy under the title “Cats and Man”.
This event took place in Venice in June of that year and consisted of a seminar in which some distinguished Italian scholars from the fields of art, literature and science took part.
There was also an international cat show and a meeting between the representatives of several of the world’s major cat associations; from the United States - Don Williams, President of the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA); from the United Kingdom - Brenda Wolstenholme, Chairman of the Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF); and from Europe - Alvia Uddin, President of FIFe and Anneliese Hackmann, President of the World Cat Federation (WCF).
Better Understanding and Co-operation
Most of those taking part in this first meeting saw the importance of international co-operation and it was decided to establish a regular meeting of the presidents of the associations, to study and to seek solutions for problems of common interest.
Establishing Tradition
Subsequent meetings have followed the pattern established in Venice: seminars, an international show at which the participating heads of organisations are invited to judge and a meeting of representatives of the world’s cat associations.
In 1999 a Charter was accepted and in 2001 a Constitution was established and accepted.
