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Six-toed cats that inhabit Ernest Hemingway's former home for more than 70 years are now considered objects of USA national endow. This is the final point in the catfight with the U.S. Department of Agriculture which has been won after Key West City officials have sided with Ernest Hemingway's former home and its celebrated six-toed felines. 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 Department threatened the Museum with 200$ fine a day per each of more than 50 cats, if the animals are not encaged.
The new ordinance, approved Tuesday, 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."
An unusual polydactyl kitten was given as a gift to the famous writer in 1935. All the cats living now in the Museum are it's descendants, and all of them carry the gene for six toes, though not all display the trait.
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