Suffering for beauty…

In March 2014, I wrote a blog that featured concerns regarding the breeding of pedigree cats. (You can find the blog here: https://www.ailurophile.co.uk/?p=130 .)

An article that appeared on my newsfeed this week, dated from 2017, reminded me of the blog because it states that the British Veterinary Association had recommended there was a ban on breeding a certain type of cat due to the levels of physical pain resultant of the genetic condition that produced the breed. Not only do Scottish Folds have painful lives, but the condition also shortens their actual lifespan. Sadly to date, there has been no such ban put in place in the UK. But the situation was discussed in the Flemish part of Belgium in 2018, and a law change that takes place in October of this year means they will no longer allow the breeding of Scottish Folds. (You can read documents online from the Brussels Animal Welfare Council here: enviroment.brussels/sites/default/files/user_files/advice_concerning_a_ban_on_the_breeding_of_fold_cats_due_to_congenital_osteochondrodysplasia_-_20180621.pdf )

Hopefully, more countries will recognise that the main priority of feline care is their physical and psychological wellbeing than aesthetics and follow suit.

You can read more on the subject here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-3971763