08//08/06 -- The Hemingway cats, more than 50 descendants of Papa's
famous six-toed pet that still live in the Hemingway Home in Key West,
are the reason the caretakers of the home are in trouble with the US
Department of Agriculture. Somehow, the USDA has designated the
Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum as an "exhibitor" of cats, which
would require an Animal Welfare License.
The home has asked a federal judge to intervene and determine if the
federal Animal Welfare Act applies to the cats, who the home says are
"not engaged in commerce".
"What they're comparing the Hemingway house to is a circus or a zoo
because there are cats on the premises," said Cara Higgins, the home's
attorney. "This is not a traveling circus. These cats have been on the
premises forever."
Floridians
and wannabees
