Hemingway's cats and teh busybodies of the world

[anghara]

Back when I first came to the United States my then-not-yet-husband took me down to Key West to show me a bit of old Florida. One of my clearest memories from that trip was the visit to the Hemingway house and museum - quite aside from the intrinsic interest that I had for the place as and of itself, there were the Hemingway cats. They were famous. They were the descendants of Papa Hemingway's own cats, fully half of them were polydactyls (the "mitten cats" with the extra "thumb" on their paws), and they were... just... well, let's put it this way. It's a tad disconcerting but utterly delightful to walk up to the booth which is selling tickets to enter the museum and be greeted by a lounging calico cat spread out over the counter instead of the human being who should have been there but who had popped out for a moment. The cat motif continued inside the house and the grounds - cats stalked majestically through the garden, lay dozing in dappled shade, festooned themselves on lips of fountains, lay blinking at visitors from various armchairs, desks and windowsills, and one - obviously with a racial memory that stretched longer than some of the others - thought that rdeck looked rather a lot like Papa himself, and followed the two of us from room to room keeping close to rdeck's heels all the way. They were an utter delight, they were part of the place and always had been, they *lived* there. This was their home.

Enter the busybodies.

Full story here.

WHy oh why can't people leave beautiful things alone? Those cats are not shoved into a single room in a single house with a single litterbox between them, by some horrid mad old lady who wants to collect them. The cats are contented, well cared for, living comfortably in their own space. An exhibit? Give me a BREAK.

All I can say to those idiots proposing this godawful thing is, if you want to see miserable cats cofined behind bars, go visit your local pound.

Leave Hemingway's cats alone.

Comments

[eneit.livejournal.com]

somehow, if indeed this is the source of the complaint, this woman weems to belong to the wrong group:

While the agency won't name the source of the complaint, some fingers point to the local Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

I've always had a soft spot for cats with an extra toe. Here in New England, they call them double-pawed. My Robin had them, and his fuzzy feet looked huge. :)

[little-foxy.livejournal.com]

Government beaucracy at its best....

Think of the time and money wasted on this, when there are plenty of animals in real distress.. I'm sure the only distress in those cats lives is that breakfst is 30 mins late...

*sigh*

This is just sad...

[keris45.livejournal.com]

That story is a sad commentary on over-regulation and the madness that seems to govern us these days. I am appalled. Surely this will not happen?

I am reminded of what happened to a cat of mine - we took it in when it was already adult and desperately needed a home. We had a garden and a catdoor at the time. Five years later we moved to an apartment on the third storey. We tried very hard to adapt the cat to indoor life - there was a sunny outdoor balcony it could use - but that cat was sooooooo miserable. After a couple of months we sadly gave her away to someone who had a better setup. Last I heard it was grinning from ear to ear (the ungrateful feline)...

Being an indoor cat is very hard on a cat that is not used to it, no matter how much attention it gets.

Glenda Larke
www.glendalarke.blogspot.com