Message from the President,

For those of you who might not know, Ray Drury, a long time AMLA member lost his battle with cancer late this summer. My thoughts and prayers are with Pat. If you know Pat and have not done so please drop her a note. If you live near Pat and you can, offer to give her a hand with the llamas.

It is that time of the year again. Dues for 2012 are due by January 1, 2012. Please make your check for $25 made payable to AMLA and mail it to ILR. For your $25 you receive the following benefits:

• AMLA members pay $5 less per llama for registering immature, mature and foundation llamas than non-members pay.
• Free advertising in the AMLA newsletter. Send picture of a llama for sale or your business card to me and I will include in all future newsletters.
• Receive copy of this Fabulous newsletter (joke from newsletter editor)
• Farm listing and contact information on the AMLA web site.

Below is a letter from our nominating committee. Please consider becoming more involved with AMLA by running for the board. Take a moment read the duties and responsibilities for each of the three offices up for election, pick the one that interests you then contact the nominating committee and let them know which office you are interested in running for.

Lastly I have recently added an AMLA brochure link to the right hand column on the home page of our web site. I left room bottom center back of the brochure for you to add your own contact information. Please feel free to print out as many as you want as handouts.

Sincerely,
Pam Fink
AMLA President

A Message from the 2011 Nominating Committee

To all AMLA members, it’s that time of year again! Merle Mann and Gladys Moritz have agreed to be the Nominating Committee for 2011 and are again asking for interested members to run for a position on the Board of Directors that will be expiring December 31, 2011.

There are 3 positions up for election:

1) Vice President - This position will run for 2 years, to begin January 1st, 2011. Electronic ballots will go out December 15, 2011 and all members will have seven (7) days, December 21, 2011, to cast their electronic ballots.

By-laws state:

Section 6.2: Vice President. The Vice President shall possess all powers and perform all the duties of the President in the event of the absence of the President or of the President‘s disability, refusal, or failure to act. The Vice President shall perform such other duties as are properly assigned by the Board of Directors or the President.

2) Treasurer - This position will run for 2 years, to begin January 1st, 2011. Electronic ballots will go out December 15, 2011 and all members will have seven (7) days, December 21, 2011, to cast their electronic ballots.

By-laws state:

Section 6.4: Treasurer. The Treasurer shall have charge of and shall exercise supervision of the financial affairs of the Association. The Treasurer shall be responsible for the accurate accounting and reporting of all monies received and expended by the Association and shall be responsible for all financial records, including tax records, tax returns, and corporation reports. All monies received shall be deposited in the bank or depository designated by the Board of Directors and shall be paid out as prescribed by the Board of Directors or its designee. The Treasurer shall be authorized to sign checks for the payments incurred by the Association. The Treasurer in conjunction with the Finance and Audit Committee shall develop the budget for approval by the Board of Directors. The Treasurer shall provide names of current members to the Board of Directors.

3) Registrar - This position will run for 2 years to begin January 1st, 2011. Electronic ballots will go out December 15, 2011 and all members will have seven (7) days, December 21, 2011 to cast their electronic ballots.

By-laws state:

Section 6.5: ILR will keep a registry of llamas meeting AMLA standards and provide a copy to the Registrar on a regular basis. The Registrar will make recommendations for registration procedures to the Board as needed.

We are asking all members that will be running for a position to submit a statement on behalf of their candidacy, which will be attached to the ballot. Your statement will need to be emailed to Merle Mann or Gladys Moritz by December 10, 2011. Ballots will go out on December 15, 2011 and need to be back to the Nominating Committee by 6:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time on December 21, 2011. Results will be announced on December 23, 2011 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time.

Voting will be done electronically (email). If anyone would prefer a paper ballot, their written request must be received by the Nominating Committee by December 10, 2011, include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a ballot will be returned to them for their vote. Paper ballot must be received by the Nominating Committee on or before December 21, 2011. Time is of the essence so please mail your request to Merle Mann or Gladys Moritz.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Merle or Gladys.

Thank You,

For Your Information and Interest

By Mike Higgins

Hello All:

Today I emailed, as copied below, Richard L. Wilkes, D.V.M. Virginia State Veterinarian to find out what was the latest on the VA import regulations concerning having to get tests for Brucellosis, Tuberculosis, and Bluetongue done, as we were advised earlier this year that Virginia lifted this import regulation and only a Health Certificate was required for those miniature llamas coming from out-of-state, such as North Carolina. However I was unable to find this change on the VA Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services web site.

Copied below is the reply from Dr. Wilkes. Basically, no change yet from years past, however there is hope, as it is awaiting several additional levels of review in the VA administrative process to adopt regulations to basically do away with these tests.  Wisely, there is no prediction by the Dr. Wilkes when this will be completed.

Remember now, we have politicians at play here, and it could be approved sometime later this year, or maybe 2012, or 2013, or….??
Wanda and I hope you all and your families are going well and that life is being good to you and your miniature llamas.
Take care of yourselves and be safe out there.
Best Regards

Charging Ahead Against Disease

By Kelley Weir

Just like humans, animals can be born with congenital diseases. Choanal atresia is one such congenital disorder, where the back of the nasal passage (choana) is blocked, usually by abnormal bony or soft tissue formed during fetal development.

Llamas and alpacas can suffer from this disease, and the abnormal nasal passage forces them to breathe through their mouths, predisposing them to fatal aspiration pneumonia.

Recent scientific evidence indicates that choanal atresia is similar to CHARGE syndrome in humans, for which the genetic mutation CDH7 has been identified. Humans affected with CHARGE syndrome are often born with life threatening birth defects, including heart deformities and breathing problems.

With Morris Animal Foundation funding, Dr. Anibal Armien, from the University of Minnesota, tried to determine whether CDH7 is also associated with choanal atresia in alpacas and llamas. She learned that complete sequencing of the CDH7 gene will be needed to determine whether other mutations in the gene are the cause of choanal atresia in llamas and alpacas. Preliminary data also indicated that nine of 10 alpacas with choanal atresia have cranial and/or internal organ malformation. Researchers identified patterns of malformation that are associated with choanal atresia in these animals, and the findings will help veterinarians diagnose choanal atresia and differentiate it from other diseases.

Continued research is needed to help us understand the full scope of choanal atresia, but this study provides information that will help lead the way to interventions and therapies for camelids suffering from this problem.

Reprinted with permission from Morris Animal Foundation, Animal News 11.3 August 2011.

Note: to see more information on camelid research studies funded by MAF, see:
http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.org/our-research/studies.html

Use the search tool next to ‘Animal Species’ to select “Llamas/Alpacas/Other Camelids

Board Members
Pam Fink,President
Darlene Awarski,Vice President
Phyllis Wilkerson, Secretary
Pat Behrens, Treasurer
Sue Morgan, Registrar

Membership
AMLA membership dues must be sent to ILR. ILR is responsible for maintaining our membership list. Dues are $25 per farm and membership runs the calendar year.

Registration
Individual llama registrations must be sent to ILR. You will receive a combined ILR-AMLA registration paper for each mini llama you register or upgraded.

Fees for AMLA registration are:
Initial Registration: $10
Immature to Mature Status $6 Checks should be made payable to AMLA and sent to PO Box 8, Kalispell, Mt 59903. If you have any questions email ILRA at amla@lamaregistry.com

Annual Web site Ads
All breeder ads, both photos and copy, should be emailed to Pam Fink and the $50 fee should be made payable to ALMA and mailed to Pat Behrens, 1076 Harrods Creek Rd, Paris, Kentucky 40361

Newsletter Ad s
Business card farm ad's are free to all AMLA members. Please email a copy of your farm business card to Pam Fink. The number of ads used each month will depend on available space .

Lavinia & Alan Stevens
Millstream Miniature Llamas
355 Atkins Rd.
Victoria, BC V9B 3A1

Julie & Derek Sines
1132 W, Woodrow Rd.
Shelby, MI 49455
231-742-0931



Darlene & Ken Awarski
5265 Norris Run Rd.
Blacksburg, VA
540-808-8664



Joyce & Pete Barber
506 Jones Rd.
Mill Springs, NC 28756
828-625-4132



Sue & George Morgan
33693 Hibernia St.
Frontenac, MN 55026
651-380-2236



Tami & Merle Mann
2605 Luminary Lane
Oskaloosa, IA 52577
641-673-7740



Pam & Jerry Fink
65 Windy Valley Lane
Blue Ridge, GA 30513
706-258-2432

AMLA's Newsletter editor and Web Master is Pam Fink.
Comments on how to improve both are encouraged. Please feel free to send comments, suggestions corrections etc.
to Pam anytime.

Toby is a proven male. He has many Grand & Reserve Champion Trophy's and has great cria's all have fine or silky fleeces. Toby has cria's that place in Reserve Champion, 1st and 2nd place. Cria's like The Chief, Fantasy, and Dustie Rose. If you want to see some of his fiber or Fantas's fiber let Bill Fisher know & he will send you some. Asking $1,000.00 but will take $500.00 right now.

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