There is currently some criticism (indirectly and directly) of Taylor Swift for adopting (purchasing) a couple of Scottish Fold purebred cats. The woman is worshipped by billions of people and she's become a huge influencer. I've gently argued that she adopted Scottish Fold cats because they look cute and because they enhance her image. Although, that said, she seems to be a genuine cat lover but a vet argues that she can't be because she purchased a cat with osteochondrodysplasia. Click the link below to read that article.
But she made a big mistake in purchasing the Scottish Fold as far as I am concerned. This cat is arguably permanently in some discomfort because of a genetic mutation which makes the cartilage throughout the cat unable to perform its function. The mutation damages the cartilage. This is a cat which is inherently defective. And in Germany it is banned under their torture breeding policy. It is that bad.
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| Cute by inherently very unhealthy. Image in the public domain. |
Brits love the Scottish Fold
It can't be denied that this cat should not really exist but according to Wales Online the British have named the Scottish Fold as their top cat according to a Burns Pet Nutrition study. Sad new for me as I am mainly concerned with animal welfare.
This clearly indicates the enormous influence that Taylor Swift has over the British public and in other countries. She is the world's biggest and most powerful influencer. She must get paid millions of dollars to promote items on her Instagram pages. Wealth breeds wealth and she is a good example.
According to this poll, the British believe that the Scottish Fold is the most intelligent and the most affectionate and the easiest to train cat breed.
There is no scientific evidence to support those assertions. It's as simple as that. The number of Scottish Fold cat sold in the UK soared to 110,000 in 2021. That is thanks to Taylor Swift as mentioned.
She has done a terrible disservice to the well-being of domestic cats. And I don't want to criticise her. I like her. I like what she does and I think she's a good person; a decent person with a good mind and a good business sense but she made a mistake.
She could have done some good
Being a massive influencer she had the great opportunity to encourage people to adopt rescue cats. She could have led the way here. Think of those poor rescue cats in rescue centres languishing in cages waiting to be adopted while the British purchase Scottish Fold cats which leads to one more rescue cat not being adopted. And this can lead to the euthanasia of that unadopted cat. It's all so very wrong from a logical point of view.
I don't want to harp on and be negative but I want to be realistic and fair and decent. Why don't the British listen to this sort of argument?
I recently wrote an article about a scientific study which concluded that the inherited disease suffered by the Scottish Fold causes pain and discomfort even when the breeder is careful in breeding this cat. They cannot breed Scottish Fold with Scottish Fold because that produces an unviable cat. They have to breed a non-Scottish Fold with a Scottish Fold which results in half the litter being Scottish Straights. These are Scottish Fold cats without the folded ears. They are in essence moggies. But sometimes people adopt them but there's no real point because you are paying for a purebred cat that has no distinguishable and distinct features.
The only reason why the Scottish Fold is so popular is because of their cute appearance and that comes about because of their flat ears which is due to weak cartilage as mentioned.
I've always said that the biggest influence on humans is the appearance of something. That is because vision is the dominant sense of humans (click link above for more on this). We rely on vision far more than example cats do. For cats vision and smell and sound work together but for humans we rely far more dominantly on our sight which leads to the appearance of objects both inanimate and animate being very important to us. We tend to conveniently ignore some very important aspects of what we are purchasing namely the health of the animal.
That problem has occurred with domestic dogs as well during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many people purchased at a high inflated cost the French bulldog. This is the world's most unhealthy dog and the dog that they bought were probably bred in puppy mills in Eastern Europe (click link above for more on this). They didn't mind. The British simply dived in and bought the French bulldog because it's an interesting looking animal. The should realise that the flat muzzle causes breathing problems.
The same goes for the classic British bulldog. In hot weather you see them wheezing and coughing and spluttering trying to breathe. Health is more important than appearance, I say, but the British public disagree with me very strongly.
It's a great shame that Taylor Swift made this mistake. She would disagree with me but it is a big mistake and there's no ignoring it. She must use her power to influence millions of people more wisely. I'd like to see her talk about this.
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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.
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