The Netherlands Just Banned Scottish Folds and Sphynx Cats — And the Rest of the World Is Watching

Since January 1, it has been illegal to buy, sell, or breed a Scottish Fold or a Sphynx cat anywhere in the Netherlands. Owners who acquired one of these beloved breeds after the cutoff face fines of up to €1,500. Existing cats, if born and microchipped before the deadline, may live out their natural lives — but they cannot be exhibited at shows, entered into competitions, or bred. For the roughly 10,000 Dutch owners of folded-ear and hairless cats, the message from The Hague is unmistakable: the era of breeding animals for aesthetic traits that cause suffering is over. The Dutch ban is not happening in isolation. It is the sharpest edge of a global legislative movement that, in just the first quarter of 2026, has rewritten the rules of pet ownership from Sacramento to Moscow, from Santiago to Tokyo. Taken together, these changes signal something profound: governments around the world are no longer content to merely punish animal cruelty after the fact. They are stepping in to prevent