Focus on Europe
Europe Isn't a Footnote.
Legislation is moving fast across European parliaments, and it's landing directly on breeders and clubs. Here's where things actually stand, and the real channel for doing something about it.
Since 1 January 2026, the Netherlands has banned the keeping, breeding, and sale of Sphynx cats and Scottish Folds under Dutch animal welfare law.
That's an EU member state's own legislation — and where it applies, it takes precedence over any TICA rule. No amount of internal TICA process can override a country's law, nor should it try to. Cats born before that date and microchipped can still be kept, but even they're barred from shows and competitions going forward, which is where this genuinely bites for us as a show organisation.
Great Britain and Northern Ireland sit slightly differently, being outside the EU — this specific Dutch law doesn't extend there in the same way, though local UK law always comes first regardless of what's happening elsewhere in Europe.
This is where TICA can genuinely help — not by overriding a country's law, but by making sure the association shows up properly where it still has a role to play.
Regional Directors are empowered to bring specific submissions to the board asking for TICA action or support on exactly this kind of regional issue. That's the real channel — and it needs to be used properly, not just talked about.
If breed-specific legislation is moving through a parliament near you, or a national law is about to change what your club or show can do, your Regional Director is the person positioned to bring that directly to the board. Use that channel. It exists for exactly this.
The Netherlands isn't being treated as an isolated case. We're watching closely across the rest of Europe, because legislation like this rarely stays contained to the country it started in.
At the same time, pedigree breeding is facing pressure that isn't only legislative. There's a well-funded, increasingly organised strain of animal-rights activism that is openly opposed to breeding of any kind, regardless of how responsibly it's done — and alongside it, a much larger "adopt don't shop" sentiment that, however well-intentioned, often treats every pedigree breeder as part of the problem rather than asking what responsible breeding actually looks like.
TICA exists to preserve breeds — genetic diversity, breed standards, and the knowledge that goes into keeping both healthy. That's not in conflict with animal welfare. It depends on it.
The strongest answer to "breeders are the problem" isn't an argument — it's a practice. Responsible breeders already agree that pet-quality cats and kittens should be spayed or neutered, and that only intentional, health-screened pairings should ever produce a litter. That's not a concession to critics. It's what separates a responsible cattery from the irresponsible breeding that gives the whole hobby a bad name — and it directly addresses the unwanted-kitten numbers that fuel the case against us.
Vicki Jo was born in Britain, and Luiz Paulo holds Italian citizenship alongside his Brazilian nationality. Europe's place in this association has never been an abstraction to either of them.
The work that went into this year's World Championship Show in Liverpool was part of showing that, in practice rather than in a statement. Europe isn't being managed from a distance — it's a region this campaign takes seriously enough to keep showing up for, in person and through the board.
"I take Europe's place in TICA seriously — I hope the work I put into World Championship Show in Liverpool this year showed that. This isn't a footnote for me, and I'm glad to keep working through it with the region, properly, through the channels that exist for it."
— Vicki Jo Harrison