Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Ashera Cat Confiscated at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2008/01/giant_cat_seized_at_schiphol.php

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/3087111/_Mega-kat_komt_niet_door_douane__.html?p=13,1

It seems that Lifestyle Pets might want to get an exporter's license and apply for CITES permits when exporting their "Ashera cats" around the world from the United States. Paperwork needs to be filed for any cat descending from an exotic cat, whether or not it is a registered Savannah or Bengal or an unregistered hybrid mutt labeled Ashera.

One would think that if they are being paid $22K for a cat then they could afford to file the appropriate paperwork! Oops!

On a serious note, it is very sad that the poor cat is the one to suffer. It has to be stressful and frightening for a kitten/cat to be shipped internationally, then to be held likely in a shelter or caged setting while its fate is determined, well that is terrifying for the animal.

And really, what kind of ridiculous hype is this, the cat is described in the news story as growing to the size of a "large dog"? Even an African Serval is not that large (generally 30-40lbs) and the Asian Leopard Cat is domestic cat sized...

6 comments:

Henk Langeveld said...

Dutch customs apparently want to clear up the genetics of this cat, which of course is complicated by the fact that the breeders don't come clear with the breed's ancestry. The one picture that I saw today showed a quite comfortable little cat.

So a little recap:
A Savannah cat is a Serval/domestic hybrid, while a Bengal is a Leopard cat/domestic hybrid.
So the Ashe(e)ra could be a Savannah/Bengal hybrid, but without the pedigree?

(I'm living in the Netherlands, and we have a Bengal/Norwegian Forest cat hybrid -- a little accident.
Troy "Troll" is big, but not lean like his mother, and he's a bully to some of our other cats, but very affectionate to ourselves.)

Brigitte said...

Yes, and as we learned today from the breeder of this kitten, the genetics of this kitten prove that it is indeed a Savannah cat. Apparently the kitten is already registered as a Savannah. This kitten is actually the progeny of a Serval and an Egyptian Mau so not even the mix of Serval, Asian Leopard Cat and domestic cat that the Ashera is reputed to be...

Bengal can be used to cross to a Serval and the progeny is still considered to be a Savannah though.

Frans said...

Thanks for posting this blog. I found newspaper articles here and there but you have more facts that seem to make clear what's actually the case.

Anonymous said...

Well, most dogs in the Netherlands tend to be small since there isn't that much room in this small, heavily populated country for some really large dog types. Small dogs are becoming real popular here in the Netherlands. Labradors and German Shepherds tend to be the biggest dogs that you'll see here in the Netherlands. Don't see anything bigger than those here.

jason said...

what great update on cats! this is amazing to read. my love for cats will never die! i love all kinds of cats in all colors, shapes and sizes! my fav is the persian cat.

Anonymous said...

I love to have cats as pet becase they are cute and very friendly. They are easy to nurture and take care of among other pets. Though i am not very familiar with types of cats you shared but the cat in image is beautiful.