Key West sides with Hemingway Cats.

The Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West, Florida has been home to a group of about 50 cats, many of them polydactyl, for decades. Some are the descendants of the original six-toed cat the author was given in 1935. The Hemingway estate has been locked in a struggle with the USDA for almost a year, which says the cats are an “exhibit” and require a special permit. The Key West City Commission has just passed an ordinance, granting the estate an exemption from the law.

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."

Link -via Simply Left Behind