Photograph: Jacob King/PA The Kennel Club, which organises Crufts, said notification from Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that travel regulations for pets would remain the same during the Brexit transition period was only received after entries had closed on 20 January.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “Neither Natural England nor Defra have received any credible reports of wild living or breeding big cats in Britain in recent years.