Swiss animal security group PSA is worried about a thriving sell hybrid cats, which are half-wild and harder to take care of, with an increasing number being abandoned to havens.
This material was released on February 21, 2023 – 12:02
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The association recommends individuals versus keeping these cats and is requiring a more stringent legal structure, it said in press releaseExternal link on Monday.
In Switzerland, the most typical hybrid breed is the Bengal cat. With 12,500 people presently signed up, their population has actually doubled in the last 4 years, according to PSA. Imports of these animals have actually quadrupled in the very same duration, with almost 400 being imported in 2022.
These appealing, exotic-looking animals are the outcome of crossbreeding in between domestic and wild cats. PSA says they require more flexibility and motion than domestic cats, so it is hard to keep them inside your home. Outdoors, nevertheless, their fantastic capability to hunt and routine disputes with other cats can likewise be an issue.
According to PSA, some owners discover themselves “overwhelmed”, and the variety of hybrid cats taken in by shelters, mainly Bengal cats, has actually increased greatly.
Mating a domestic cat with a feral cat is forbidden in Switzerland, the association notes, and an animal with a feral element of more than 50% is thought about wild under the law. Imported cats originated from foreign breeders, whose conditions for breeding and keeping the animals are “frequently dreadful”, it says.
PSA is requiring changes to Swiss law to strengthen responsibilities concerning the breeding and keeping of hybrid cats.
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