Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Too Strange To Not Talk About

I found this article today talking about a recent controversy at the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum in Key West, Florida. There was recently a decision made that the special cats that live on the grounds had to have special care. Why are cats involved? Because Hemingway was apparently a big cat lover, and the cats roaming the grounds are actually descendants of a special cat given to Hemingway by a ship captain- all of them have six toes. The whole problem arose when a visitor complained that they didn't think the museum was taking proper care of the cats. In 2003, the USDA said the museum was subject to the Animal Welfare Act, and as such would have to cage and tag the cats at night, and provide additional facilities for them. In 2009, the museum appealed to a federal court to appeal the decision, but the judge rule against them.

I am not generally a cat person, but I thought that this was such a peculiar incident it was worth mentioning. I can see how the museum would be upset about the decision- in a way, the cats are very much a part of the Hemingway story. I don't think I've heard of other history museums having large numbers of animals on the grounds (or any animals at all really), so I don't know if there have been similar situations in which a museum has to contend with regulations regarding a completely different subject (such as keeping animals). Either way, it is an interesting story.

The full article can be read here:
http://todaytravel.today.com/_news/2012/12/11/15842617-cat-fight-pits-government-against-hemingway-museum?lite

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