Two celebrities who promote an unhealthy cat breed

• Welfare charity Cats Protection wants to stop the bleeding of Scottish Fold cats.
• The ever popular and admired Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran both live with Scottish Fold cats.

It is unfortunate and perhaps unintentional that these two very high-profile celebrities decided to adopt a Scottish Fold cat.

Perhaps at the time they didn't know that the genetic mutation which creates the cute face because the ears are flattened to the skull can also cripple the cats because it affects the cartilage in the ear flaps and can also affect the cartilage of the joints. They will have learned about this. It may be an issue for them both but once you create a massive following for your cats you can't surrender them to a shelter! 😎.

RELATED: Scottish Fold cats health problems. Beware.

Ed Sheeran and his Scottish Fold, Calippo. Photo: Instagram.

Cats Protection are unhappy, the Mail on Sunday reports, that A-listers are perhaps innocently promoting this breed which the Germans would say is the result of "torture breeding". In Germany it is banned as I understand it.

Both of these celebrities are highly influential. Millions of mainly young people follow their every move. And it is through young people that we can change the culture of society.

Until recently, people accepted cat breeds that have been created from deleterious genetic mutations. But things are changing slightly perhaps because of a greater awareness of what is natural, of nature because of global warming.

And there is a greater awareness of conservation. Conservation is about protecting nature and the wild species that live within it. It is about a sensitivity towards animals which can extend to a sensitivity about the cat breeds and their health.

The cat associations have negligently allowed these inherently unhealthy breeds to be created. It goes against their ethos and even their policy to not breed unhealthy cats. But they allow it, nonetheless.

It is an anomaly which needs to be rectified. Popstar Taylor Swift regularly shares pictures of her two Scottish Fold cats with her 230 million Instagram followers. As I recall, she has the most followers of anybody on the planet on Instagram.

It is nice that Ed Sheeran loves cats. There are some charming photographs of him with his Scottish Fold, Calippo and Dorito, a tabby. They are collectively known as The Wibbles on my research! They've amassed almost 400,000 fans and probably more because the following grows almost exponentially.

That's the influence that someone like him has and it has probably dawned on him that he has a responsibility to promote companion animal health. As mentioned, I sense that he adopted his Scot Fold innocently after being attracted to their appearance and has since learnt that there is a health aspect.

There is nothing in the law in the UK which prevents breeders creating unhealthy individual cats of unhealthy cat breeds. The same applies to the USA. Germany appears to be an exception. There may other countries that follow Germany's lead in this regard, but I don't think so.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: ‘Anyone breeding cats in England must protect them from unnecessary suffering. Failing to may lead to imprisonment, a fine or both.

‘Owners considering breeding cats should seek advice on the risk of inherited conditions.’