Cat exhibition permits and animal shrinks: the sign of civilization's decline

Courtesy of KMF...

The descendants of Ernest Hemingway's cats still roam the museum grounds in Key West, Florida, as they've done for generations. The cats are named for famous friends and actors known to Hemingway.

Archibald MacLeish prefers the cool tiled floor of the master bathroom. Emily Dickinson seems indifferent to the camera catching her in repose on a predecessor's tombstone.

The cats are carefully cared for by museum staff, fed organic cat food and given weekly vet exams. An animal rights activist's dream, yes?

Motivated by concern for what they considered an excessive cat population on the property and the potential for the cats to escape and be run over, two animal rights activists are believed to have brought the museum to the attention of those charged with applying the 1966 Animal Welfare Act...

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) [wants] the museum to obtain an animal exhibition license that would require staff members to "protect" them from spectators and cage them after their daily "performance" when the front gate closes at 5 p.m.

Yes, a bunch of cats roaming a property are "performers." And being carefully caged inside is much better for cats than being able to roam around outside. At least if animal rights activists are around:

The only known off-site fatality involved a cat run over after being lured out by the activists, [site manager] Sands said

So where has this farcical bureaucratic ride taken us?
The USDA postponed a late-July administrative hearing to allow an animal behaviorist to render an independent assessment of how confinement would affect the cats' mental and physical health. Her report is expected in two to three weeks.

To: USDA
From: jff

Re: Independent Assessment

Dear USDA,
The cats are fine, the activists are mental, and this investigation is a farce.

Sincerely,
-jff