Animal charity House of Animals has reported auction website Marktplaats to the police for facilitating animal suffering by allowing the sale of Scottish Fold cats on its platform.

The cats’ take their name from an inherited anomaly of the cartilage in their ears which gives them a folded appearance. The condition also affects their joints which means they are in constant pain, the organisation said.

According to animal welfare organisation Dier& Recht, Scottish Folds can still be bought and sold legally. “Even if they are bred illegally they can be sold legally and be imported legally at the moment, and that is the problem,” spokeswoman Kelly Kessen told RTL Nieuws.

At the beginning of last year, farm and wildlife minister Piet Adema announced plans for new rules to stop the illegal breeding and trading of cats and dogs with extreme appearances, by banning them altogether. However, “issues like enforcement and the ‘freedoms of social media’ will take time to work out carefully,” Adema said at the time.

House of Animals spotted over 100 ads offering the breed on Marktplaats, and said it is worried many people will buy one because of the publicity surrounding a Scottish Folds cat in a rucksack in new spy film Argylle.

Pets in films often become a must-have, Kessen said. “After 101 Dalmatians more Dalmatians were bought and lots ended up in animal rescue centres because they are not the easiest of pets. Snowy owls were also more in demand after the Harry Potter films. The fact that the cat is being carried in a rucksack when it is already in pain makes it even worse,” she said.

In a response Marktplaats said that “when keeping Scottish Fold cats is prohibited by law it will take the necessary steps”.