The Secession

At the height of their breeding programme, the Daytons owned a total of eighteen Ragdolls, all of them Raggedy Ann cats bred by Ann Baker—more than enough to keep them busy through many long winter evenings.

From the very beginning, the Daytons genuinely tried to work alongside Ann Baker to introduce the Ragdoll to the public. Ann herself acknowledged that Denny was the first breeder who truly committed himself to the breed. Yet, despite everyone's best intentions, the partnership never really worked because their objectives were fundamentally different. While Ann attracted publicity with increasingly sensational claims—that Ragdolls were a freak of nature, felt no pain, never fought, shed virtually no hair and went completely limp when picked up—such stories certainly promoted Ann Baker herself, but did little to help breeders whose real concern was finding homes for their kittens. The breeders, led by the Daytons, quickly realised that the future of the Ragdoll depended on recognition by the established cat associations and on regular appearances at cat shows, where the public could discover for themselves what the breed was really like. In a letter dated 19 August 1973 to Ruby Spagnol, another Ragdoll breeder, Ann wrote: "I cannot work with Mr Dayton. He contradicts me constantly to the point that we are no longer thinking along the same lines. I need someone who will help me achieve national recognition for the breed rather than concentrating on the small world of cat shows."

Conflict followed conflict. Ann had written and registered the original Ragdoll standard with the NCFA, but it described only the mitted Ragdoll—a direct consequence of her first fascination with Daddy Warbucks. That suited her perfectly, but certainly not the other breeders, who wished to register the breed with other associations, including the CFA. As so often happens, each association wanted to rewrite the standard to reflect its own interpretation. Ann strongly objected. She insisted there was only one true Ragdoll standard—hers—and she had absolutely no intention of changing it for anyone, least of all for another cat registry.

According to Ann, within seven generations every Ragdoll would be mitted, so why waste time writing standards for bicolours and colourpoints? Unfortunately for that theory, by the eighth generation both colourpoints and bicolours stubbornly continued to appear alongside the mitted kittens. Worse still, she had given them rather simplistic names such as "white feet", "black feet" and "mitted". The breeders wanted more elegant and internationally acceptable names for official registration, since once a designation becomes part of a breed standard it is almost impossible to change. Eventually everyone agreed on the terms colourpoint, bicolour and mitted—everyone except Ann Baker. She wanted absolute control over every aspect of the Ragdoll. She feared that yielding even the smallest part of her authority would ultimately cost her everything. For that reason she fiercely opposed virtually every suggestion, regardless of who proposed it.

Until 1973 the breeders continued trying to work with Ann to promote the Ragdoll, but without success. From then on, open warfare began. Lawyers and courtrooms entered the picture as more and more breeders joined the Daytons, realising they had reached a dead end with Ann Baker and the IRCA. Harassed, exhausted by endless letters, accusations and legal summonses, they came close to giving up altogether when an unexpected ally came to their rescue. Brigadier General Robert Truby, having fallen under the spell of the Ragdoll, offered unwavering support that proved invaluable in bringing this nightmare to an end.

Ann Baker tried virtually every possible means to stop the Daytons. She dealt the final blow to their relationship by reporting them to the authorities in Thousand Oaks, where they had moved with their growing cattery, accusing them of operating a commercial breeding business in a residential area without permission. Fortunately for Denny and Laura, the attempt failed completely (see above). In fact, despite all her efforts, Ann never succeeded in obtaining a single judgment against them. Ironically, it was Ann herself who was eventually ordered by the courts to stop making defamatory statements about the Daytons.

From that moment onward, the history of the Ragdoll followed two distinct paths:

• The Daytons and the RFCI.
• Ann Baker and the IRCA.