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1) Dexter Cattle Organisations: Part Three 

SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE DEXTER ORGANISATION WEBSITES

(written December 2004)

Dexter Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa (www.studbook.co.za/Society/dexter/index.htm) is a well-constructed website in English with seven main sections:

* Membership List – currently contains a list of 52 names and addresses.
* History – this is a well-researched and detailed account of Dexters in South Africa and includes the very interesting claim that "in many cases", Dexter cows rear up to eight calves during one lactation.
* Dexter Bull & Cow – two pithy paragraphs, with photos, on the use and characteristics of both.
* Related Site – one of the Society's members has a small site hosted here, containing mainly a number of photos of some very good Dexters.
* General – this section has a set of comments on Dexter adaptability, performance and the up-grading process used in South Africa (taking three generations).
* Show 2004 – two pages of photos of the 2004 Bloemfontein Show, quite a good visual account of various aspects of showing Dexters in South Africa.
* SA Stud Book – a link to main page of this Association, which hosts the website. The South African Stud Book is responsible for the registration of all breeds of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses in that country.
[Note: The Dexter Cattle Breeders' Society of South Africa was formed in 1959.]

Dexter Cattle Australia (DCA) (http://dexter.une.edu.au) is a recently (mid-2004) re-developed website. It is one of the more difficult sites to navigate around as some of the navigation buttons have two or three further links that appear when your cursor is placed on them. To make a more technical point, it is also impossible to create a hyperlink to a particular page on the website as it has a top and bottom frame which doesn't change as you move from page to page - this keeps the URL at the home page throughout. However, the website is still under construction so some changes could yet be made should these issues be considered significant enough. Through its website, DCA provides an invaluable source of information about Dexters in Australia - its herd book! There are seven main links on the home page:
* About Dexter – contains information on Dexters under three headings: Ease of Handling, Naturally Small, and Dual Purpose, plus three well-chosen photos. When the cursor is placed on "About Dexter" three links appear, to "Home", "Contact Us" (the Chair and Secretary of each of the 21 regions are provided here; there is also a map of Australia divided into States - if you click on a State you are provided with a list of members and their contact details taken from the Herd Book), and "Tell Me More" (from which you can download a membership application form and fee schedule).
* News/Media – contains Ray Bolwell's article on "The Romance (and Mystery) of the Dexter" and a link to a pdf file with brief comments on Dexter milk and beef production, with a photo of Grinstead Nightingale 3rd.
* Bulletin Board – under construction – when the cursor is placed on this button, two links appear, "Coming Events" and "Trading Post", both also under construction.
* What’s New – a long page on getting the Dexter Chondrodysplasia DNA test done in Australia.
* Herd Book – clicking on this button takes you to a list of the first 15 of 58 Accredited AI Sires in Australia. Across the top of this list (and repeated when the cursor is placed on the "Herd Book" button at the top of the page) are five links, to "Home", "Animal Enquiry" and "Member Enquiry" (both of which take you to a form to search the herd book), "Sale Catalogues" (no on-line catalogues are available at present) and "Semen Catalogues" (this takes you back to a link to the 58 accredited AI sires).
* Links – currently under construction
* Members – a page where members with a password can sign in.
[Note: An Australasian Dexter Association was formed in 1987, consisting of breeders from both Australia and New Zealand. When a separate New Zealand Association was formed in 1994, the Australasian Association kept its name until it was changed to Dexter Cattle Australia in 2001.]

Dexter Cattle Society New Zealand (DCSNZ) (www.dexter-cattle.co.nz) is a small website which effectively introduces Dexter cattle and the Society. There are only two main pages on the site. The home page is particularly well-illustrated, with three photos emphasising the close relationship between people and Dexters. A short history of Dexters in New Zealand is provided. The second page contains four lists: Society email contacts; names and addresses of 10  Regional Group co-ordinators; merchandise for sale; and 10 Dexter links. Among the latter links is one to a Dexter breed description on the website of the New Zealand Rare Breeds Society (www.rarebreeds.co.nz/dexter.html). This description includes a link to an explanation of the "Grading Up" breeding process that has been important in the establishment of Dexters in New Zealand. At the end of the breed description are links to a web page of one of the Society's Regional Groups (the Mainland Dexter Group www.rarebreeds.co.nz/mainland.html), pages of three NZ breeders, and an interesting website of a stud specialising in dun Dexters (www.rarebreeds.co.nz/dundexters.html). 

[Note: The New Zealand Dexter Breeders Association was formed in 1994 and changed its name to DCSNZ in 2000.]

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