The Pittsburgh Press (September 7, 1946)
Love: Cat controversy
By Gilbert Love
Today let us face squarely, and discuss fully, a controversial subject. Cats.
Yes, cats. House cats. Felis domestica. The city cousin of the lion, tiger and leopard.
As you know, the nation is divided on the subject of cats. One great body of citizens regards the cat as one of Nature’s noblest efforts, a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Another great aggregation of humanity wouldn’t touch a cat with a ten-foot pole, unless there was chance of mayhem. In between these two camps is a minority group which can take cats or let ‘em alone.
In some ways, Americans feel more strongly about cats than they do about politics, labor unions and other subjects on which they have differences of opinion. Republicans have become Democrats, and Communists have become Republicans. Unionists have become capitalists and vice versa. But seldom do cat-lovers and cat-haters change sides.
Open warfare results at times
There is even considerable violence between these two factions, although one doesn’t hear much about it. The shoe hurled at the vocalizing cat on the back yard fence, and the retaliation by the cat’s owner, generally don’t get on police blotters. Only once in a while does the ill feeling between the pro-cat and anti-cat elements result in open warfare.
A recent outbreak brought on this discourse. It was in Bradford, Pa. Dispatches said that armed bands of anti-cats were patrolling the streets in autos, searching for cats with the aid of spotlights. The pro-cats enlisted the forces of law and order on their side, and at last report peace had been restored.
In Harrison, N.Y., a few years ago, a citizen complained to authorities that his neighbor’s 15 cats kept altering his garden to suit their taste. He rallied enough anti-cat sentiment to get an ordinance placing a tax of $2 on all cats and requiring them to wear bells.
In another New York community, however, 300 pro-cats once held a dinner party in honor of a 22-year-old cat. The guests ate salmon, liver, catnip salad and other foods favored by felines. The honor guest dined in a gilt cage in the center of the room, unperturbed by the fact that the president of the United States and the Supreme Court had declined invitations to the banquet.
Such disrespect wouldn’t have been tolerated in ancient Egypt, where the cat was sacred. Anyone who killed a cat, even accidentally, was promptly executed.
Both sides have arguments
Taken to Europe by the Roman legions, the cat lost much of its standing. In fact, it eventually became associated with bad luck, and was commonly pictured riding with a witch in a rumble seat position on a broom.
Maybe that’s why many persons, even in this day and age, have an aversion to cats that amounts almost to fear. Ask them, though, and they’ll give other reasons – “Cats are sneaking” or “They kill birds” or “They’re not loyal like a dog.”
The pro-cats come right back with – “They’re pretty.” “They destroy rats and mice.” “They’re affectionate.”
So the battle of words, and dirty looks, goes on in thousands of neighborhoods throughout the length and breadth of the land. It probably will continue until that great day comes when, the lion and the lamb lie down together, and the pro-cats and anti-cats toast each other with a beaker of catnip tea.