A breeder of XL dog-style ‘Bullycats’ has hit back at criticism, insisting they are as ‘happy and healthy’ as any other family pets despite their controversial appearance.
Bella Jones, who runs breeding firm BullyCats UK, says people should be better educated – insisting her animals are ‘health tested and completely functional’.
She spoke out after warnings were issued this week about hairless ‘Bullycats’ with ‘exaggerated’ features being bred in Britain and gaining what has been dubbed a ‘disturbing following’ on social media.
The ‘unnatural’ sphynx-like breed has short bowed legs and heavily wrinkled skin – much like an XL Bully dog.
And experts raised concerns about the ‘horrifying’ growing designer fad which could involve the animals going on to suffer serious health issues – with cat lovers urged to not buy them and instead boycott the breed.
Warnings were issued this week about hairless ‘Bullycats’ with ‘exaggerated’ features being bred in Britain
Bella Jones has hit back at criticism of the breed and insisted they are ‘happy’ cats
The ‘unnatural’ sphynx-like breed has short bowed legs and heavily wrinkled skin
Ms Jones today responded to the backlash against Bullycats and promising to share more positive endorsements of the breed to help convince people otherwise.
Potential buyers are assured cats gets ‘extensive’ health checks for conditions such as heart disease Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Bully Girl Magazine has reported.
And Ms Jones today posted on Facebook: ‘All of our cats are happy, health tested and completely functional.
‘Our cats live in our family home and other family homes around the UK, they jump, play, run and do just as an average cat would.
‘We are going to be putting out lots of videos and positive feedback to these claims and educating many more people on this concept and breed as a whole, especially how functional and happy our babies are.’
She suggested she and others had been ‘named as “animal abusers” along with other breeders across the globe and countless more false claims’.
She had some backing from people replying to her, including one who said: ‘My girls are super functional and have no health issues.’
Animal welfare charity Naturewatch Foundation has issued the warning against taking on Bullycats earlier this week.
They told people: ‘If you’re thinking about getting a cat, don’t buy into these harmful designer fads. It’s shocking to see that these poor cats are starting to appear in the UK.
‘We’ve seen increasingly extreme breeding practices in the dog world in recent years, and it appears unscrupulous people are now turning their attention to exploiting cats in the same way, all in the pursuit of greed and social media likes.
Animal welfare charity Naturewatch Foundation has issued the warning against taking on Bullycats earlier this week
They said: ‘If you’re thinking about getting a cat, don’t buy into these harmful designer fads’
‘Bullycats are an animal welfare disaster unfolding before our eyes and this kind of breeding is just cruel.’
Dr Dan O’Neill, associate professor of companion animal epidemiology at the Royal Veterinary College, described it as ‘heartbreaking’ that cats were now going under the same suffering as dogs by humans fascinated by ‘extreme body shapes’.
He said: ‘Bullycats are likely to suffer similarly shortened lives to those reported from a recent RVC VetCompass paper in Sphynx cats that lived just 6.7 years compared to an average of 11.7 years in cats overall.
‘Deliberately selecting for disease mutations, such as hairlessness that leads to sunburn, dwarfism that leads to mobility issues and joint pain, and folded skin that leads to lifetimes of skin infections means that many Bullycats will endure lives blighted by suffering.
‘The advice to anyone thinking of acquiring a cat or a dog is to always put the welfare of the animal first and to stop and think before acquiring an animal with an extreme and unnatural body shape that does not exist commonly in nature.’
And an RSPCA spokesperson told MailOnline they were ‘very concerned’ about the recent trend of Bullycats saying it ‘could cause them serious welfare issues’.
‘These exaggerated Sphynx cats are bred with very short legs which could put a strain on their joints, and they also appear to have excess skin folds making them vulnerable to skin conditions which can cause a great deal of discomfort, the charity warned.
‘Such ailments could also result in trips to the vet leaving owners with costly vet bills too.
‘These Sphynx-like cats are also bred to have only a fine covering of downy hair and some may not have eyelashes or whiskers.
The so-called Bullycat breed is thought to have got its name due to resembling bully dogs (Pictured: An American exotic bully dog)
‘This lack of fur can leave cats vulnerable to harmful ultraviolet light, cause difficulties keeping warm and means they won’t be able to use their hair and possibly their whiskers to explore their environment.
‘The lack of a fur coat also means they need to be regularly washed as oil can accumulate on their skin.
‘There could also be further health issues associated with these cats being bred from a limited gene pool.
‘We understand that their emerging presence on social media may fuel a demand for these kinds of cats but we would urge fellow cat lovers to consider adopting the many rescue cats in our care instead of buying from a breeder.
‘We would also urge breeders to prioritise the health and welfare of any animal over the way they look.’
MailOnline has contacted Ms Jones for further comment.
