The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-08-10
WAR AGAINST THE HOUSE CAT.
Officials Finds That These Animals
Carry disease to Children.

Washington, Aug. 3-Bitter war
on the house cat has been declared
! by the department of agriculture Ex-
! perts in the biological bureau of that
department are making exhaustive
Investigations of the cat as a spread
er OF disease. Already they have found
{ out enough to convince them that as
| much danger turks in a cat as a rat,
| and rats are known to be fatal as
distributors of the plague.
Upon the completion Of these in
vestigations efforts will be made by
the federal authorities to have cat IL
cense laws passed. 1t is much more
| desirable they say, to have license
for cats than a license for dogs.
eve know that cats carry disease,
| said II. w. Henshaw, chief Of the bu-
| reau, in discussing the fight against
| tabby but we do not know to what
extent We are practically certain
they carry diphtheria, scarlet fever
and ringworm and we suspect they
carry tuberculosis. All this we want
to find out. Of course the fight to
bring about a cat license will be a
| hard one. Such suggestion will be
scoffed at. But in time people will
| come to realize what a menace cats
are. That is what we hope to do
y <@
zation."
DR.. A. K. Fisher of the bureau of
biology is at work on a bulletin on
the house cat. He has been studying
the question for years and knows the
general habits Of cats thoroughly.
There are lot of fallacious the
ories regarding the usefulness of
cats" says Mr.. Fisher. "As a matter
of fact they do almost no good and
| a great deal of harm. The difficulty
In following the question Of the ex-
tent to which they carry diseases is
measured by the difficulty to follow
ing the cat. And yet there is no doubt
In the world that many a child who,
for no apparent reason and from no
discernable cause, develops a case of
diphtheria. or scarlet fever owes it's
illness and often death to the cat II
has been fondling. Moreover, cats are
as susceptible to hydrophobia as dogs.
The highly pampered pet cat of
the luxurious household never fails
to get out and roam around with the
ordinary alley cat, which prowls all
night long with the pet cat has
spent the day sleeping in some hut
or hovel in an alley where small pox,
diphtheria or tuberculosis is hid The
disease is transmitted from one
cat to another and thus carried into
homes where everything but the pet
cat is sanitary goes without saying.
Recently there has been much at
tention paid to rats and the harm
they do, both as destroyers and as
spreaders Of disease. In this connec-
ton the cat has been pointed out as
a valuable aid in keeping down the
| rat. This is an error.
II can state from my personal OBJ
servation that only about per cent
of cats are really mousers. I have
| seen cats that would tackle the
biggest rat going and kill him, but
such instances are rare. AS a rule a
cat cares little for a conflict with
| rat.
Next door to a house I once occu-
pied in Washington there were half
| dozen cats. Back Of us was livery
stable filled with rats. 1 frequently
saw my next door neighbors cat sit
| ting on the fence between our back
yards, watching rats play in my yard
early in the morning. Yet they new
er made a move to catch a rat.
GAS a matter Of fact cats prefer
birds to mice. They will spend twice
J as much time hunting birds. If one
keeps count of a cats quarry during
a year he will find that the birds
| killed will far outnumber the mice.
Little harm would be done If the
whole cat tribe were eXterminated
but there would be too much oppo-
sition to that. Still we think that
when some Of the facts concerning
cats are we'll known to the public
many mothers will be more careful
about allowing their children to play
with cats.
DR.. Fisher will have his bulletin
completed within the next few
months. 1t will receive wide distribu-
ton; and a bill to license cats in the
District of Columbia and other terri