Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Hemingway's Cats



KEY WEST, Florida (AP) -- City officials have sided with Ernest Hemingway's former home and its celebrated six-toed felines in its cat fight with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Patches, a descendant of Ernest Hemingway's six-toed cats, is on the prowl in Key West, Florida.

The Key West City Commission exempted the home from a city law prohibiting more than four domestic animals per household.

About 50 cats live there.

The house has been locked in a dispute with the USDA, which claims the museum is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs a special license, a claim the home disputes.

The new ordinance reads in part, "The cats reside on the property just as the cats did in the time of Hemingway himself. They are not on exhibition in the manner of circus animals. ... The City Commission finds that family of polydactyl Hemingway cats are indeed animals of historic, social and tourism significance."

It also states that the cats are "an integral part of the history and ambiance of the Hemingway House."

A USDA spokesman did not return messages left late Sunday.

The cats are descendants of a six-toed cat given as a gift to the writer in 1935. All carry the gene for six toes, though not all display the trait.

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Hemingway's Cats

Gertrude

Santiago

Cuba Darling

DiMaggio

Fishy

Hail Mary

Fat Spencer

Bobby J

Pretty Pablo

Jordan

El Sordo

Gitano

Agustin

Love Bait

Bell

Ezra

Scotty

Zelda

Perkins

Lady Brett

Sunny

Nicky A

Barney

Bobby C

Campbell Cutie

Pedro

Romero

Frances

Trip to Spain

Wounded Willy

Pampered Pamplona

Pamplo

Hey Jake

Princeton

Mippipopolous

Prentiss

Madame Duzinell

Woolsey

Krum

Belmonte

Girones

Edna

Dr. Valentini

Nurse Catherine

Mary

Kraut

Tough Boy

Shotgun

Ketchum

Mister 62

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