Beautiful Bengal cats kept in ugly and cruel conditions

NEWS AND OPINION: This picture in the news today caught my eye for the simple reason that we have a couple of beautiful Bengal cats struggling to extricate themselves from ugly conditions under which they were kept by a man who has been prosecuted under animal welfare legislation in Scotland. 

It always astonishes me how people can be so cruel to domestic cats and dogs. And this behaviour is highlighted (but no worse for this reason) when the animal concerned is a beautiful Bengal cat. It is the juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness which makes the point.

Beautiful Bengal cats kept in ugly and cruel conditions. Image: Crown Office.

The cats that you see were kept captive at a farm in Perthshire, Scotland. The man involved is Daanyaal Chowdhury, 30. He ran a chaotic and hazardous kennels for dogs and cats. The police attended his kennels in October 2020. They found a diseased German Shepherd dog called Sophie and the general conditions were wet and filthy. The animals were dirty with urine and faeces covering them. A veterinarian examine 32 dogs, 17 kittens and 16 cats at this shabby property. One of the kittens had to be euthanised. 

They found many animals with dermatological, respiratory, ophthalmic and ear-related diseases. Mr Chowdhury was sentenced after being found guilty last Thursday. He admitted causing the animals unnecessary suffering. He's been banned from keeping animals and placed under a supervision order for a year and ordered to undertake 90 hours of unpaid work.

Just another example of a negligent and abusive breeder who sold animals for profit and exploited and abused them. He probably presented himself to the world as a successful businessman. But behind-the-scenes was this neglectful and harmful set of kennels containing distressed animals. He sold working dogs for security purposes. No doubt he also sold purebred cats.

Note: the story does not tell me that these cats are Bengal cats but I am convinced that they are. And the man was a breeder of purebred animals for profit. It all stacks up. This is an opinion piece based upon the news. I wish to stress that point.