Cruelty warning over declaimed cats as Britons imported nearly 600,000 felines from abroad last year, including many subjected to the illegal process
- Experts alarmed by burgeoning trade in smuggling designer breed kittens
- They can cost up to £2,000 like Scottish Fold, furless Sphinx and Bengal
- 590,000 cats imported from Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania last year
- Charitable organization PDSA believes 31,000 have been declaimed for demand for ‘domestic cats’
Britons imported nearly 600,000 cats from abroad last year, many of them subject to the illegal process of declawing.
Experts are alarmed by a burgeoning kitten smuggling business fueled by the growing popularity of pedigree breeds costing up to £2,000 such as Scottish Fold, furless Sphinx, Bengal and Maine coons.
Only two percent of the UK’s cat population was born abroad in 2020, but that has now risen to six percent.
Experts are alarmed by a burgeoning kitten smuggling business fueled by the growing popularity of pedigree breeds costing up to £2,000, such as Maine Coons (file photo)
Of the 590,000 cats imported from countries like Bulgaria last year, Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania, the veterinary charity PDSA, believes 31,000 have been declaimed, a practice banned in Britain but driven by a trend toward more “domestic cats.”
Ten years ago, 15 percent of cats were kept indoors, but that has risen to 28 percent.
Senior PDSA vet Dr Sean Wensley said: ‘We are concerned about the welfare of imported cats and the increased risk of spreading new diseases in this country.’
Declawing has been compared to cutting off one’s toes or fingers. Side effects include loss of balance, back pain and stress.
The charities Cats Protection and RSPCA have joined forces to demand stricter pet travel rules to prevent exploitation of cats by unscrupulous traffickers.
They want cats to be at least six months old before they can enter Britain – from 15 weeks – and a ban on pregnant and declawed animals.
Declawing has been compared to cutting off one’s toes or fingers, with side effects such as loss of balance, back pain, and stress. Pictured: A cat’s claws are trimmed (file photo)
Madison Rogers, acting chief of advocacy at Cats Protection, said: “Clearly there is a growth in imports of cats and we need stricter measures before the trade spirals out of control.”
The government has previously opposed a ban on declawed cats, but consultations are now underway.
A spokesman for Defra said: ‘The government takes animal welfare very seriously and we have one of the most robust pet control regimes in Europe.’