Occasionally, curmudgeons in some communities have proposed laws or ordinances to license cats or to impose various restrictions on their mobility. The astute governor, while conceding the desirability of protecting birds, recognized that the nature of the cat would make enforcement virtually impossible. The tone of the governor's message indicates that he was indeed fond of cats. He would have found many sources of information and amusement in the Dartmouth College Library collections.
Cats are frequently the subject of fiction.
Attitudes toward cruelty to animals have fortunately changed greatly in the succeeding two centuries. L.A.K Notes 1 . The introduction and text editing were done by William A. Ringler Jr., and Michael Flachmann.