The World Cat Federation (WCF) is an international association of cat clubs. It was founded in 1988 in the city of
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, and continues to have a strong presence in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
,
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, and in countries of the former
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
. It is currently based in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. There are 370 organizations worldwide associated to the WCF. The current president is Anneliese Hackmann from
Essen
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
.
Purpose
The WCF allows the breeders of affiliated clubs to register their kennel names internationally. They create standards for the 68 pedigreed breeds of cats recognized by the club.
The WCF trains judges for exhibitions and organizes the examinations. Generally, the WCF is designed to promote international contacts of the cat clubs affiliated.
The WCF comprises over 10,000 breeders/catteries registered (not all are active members); 66 national organisations (plus 64 provisional); 370 clubs (over 500 counting sub-clubs) total pedigrees unknown (handled by clubs, not centralised); average of over 500 shows per year; 111 breeds listed as recognised or accepted (as of 2020);
describes itself as "an international association of cat clubs ... successfully working on the development of animal protection laws in European Parliament in Strasbourg."
See also
*
List of cat breeds
The following list of cat breeds includes only domestic cat breeds and domestic and wild hybrids. The list includes established breeds recognized by various cat registries, new and experimental breeds, landraces being established as standardized ...
*
List of cat registries
This is a complete list of cat registries worldwide. A cat registry's purpose is to register Purebred cats which are recognized by the organization. The first cat registry was the National Cat Club, set up in 1887 in England. The Governing Council ...
References
External links
Official Website
{{Authority control
Animal breeding
Cat registries
Organizations established in 1988