Are cat rescue organisations hyping up their cats by calling them Maine Coon mix?

If you go to Twitter looking for a Maine Coon cat to adopt you are presented with a series of tweets from rescue organisations advertising what they describe as "Maine Coon mix" cats. On this page is an example of one of those tweets. There is not an ounce, in terms of appearance, of Maine Coon cat in this beautiful rescue cat. You can't tell whether the cat has any Maine Coon genes or chromosomes inside of her. And I would doubt very much that the rescue organisation has any record or knowledge of the fact that this cat is genuinely a Maine Coon mix. To be absolutely clear, the description means that the cat is half Maine Coon and half random bread domestic cat. In other words this cat should be one removed from a purebred cat but how do we know if this is true?

Maine Coon mix Lowell but is he a genuine Maine Coon mix?
Maine Coon mix Lowell but is he a genuine Maine Coon mix? Picture in the public domain.

Being a cynical old man, I don't think that it is true. I think rescue organisations are hyping up their cats to make them more adoptable. It is an advertising ploy to attract attention because the Maine Coon is a very attractive cat and very popular at the moment. It is a breed at the pinnacle of its popularity. So it makes sense for a rescue centre to employ that trend to the advantage of their cats.

Personally I don't really care that much and it is probably a good idea because if it works and the cats are adopted more often then lives are potentially being saved. But on the downside, in a strict moral sense and even in a legal sense, it is wrong. If I am correct in my assessment then it would be a legal misrepresentation. This would be an actionable case in a lawsuit but of course it would never happen.

I wonder if customers who go into these rescue centres ask questions about records which confirm that these cats are genuinely Maine Coon mix cats? Some of the cats have been ear-tipped (as is the case with Lowell above), which, as you know, indicates that these were cats that were part of a feral cat colony and cared for by volunteers who arranged for them to be spayed and neutered and vaccinated and returned to where they came from. So they were semi-domesticated feral cats, on the face of it. They are, therefore, highly unlikely to have any purebred genetics in their makeup i.e. their genotype is random bred as their phenotype is also random bred.

If I am correct, I would hope that these rescue centres reappraise what they are doing and simply revert to describing what they know and being totally honest about it.

One example: #Oakland, CA: Hi, I'm LOWELL, 15+ lbs #MaineCoon mix. I've been waiting for my forever home since Dec 2019. I’m a sweet boy who loves laps, affection & people. I'm confident, and love being brushed! I am a special-needs kitty...

Here is one of the tweets:

Note: the tweet above may be deleted at source and if so it will disappear. If that has happened I apologise but I have no control over it.

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