Descendants of Hemingway’s Cat Are Regulated by Federal Law

The descendants of Ernest Hemingway’s late cat Snowball still live at his museum home. Recently, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Whitehead Street, Inc. v. Gipson that the cats that currently live in the museum are subject to federal regulations set forth by the United States Department of Agriculture. The court based its ruling on the interstate commerce clause arguing that the cats were in interstate commerce because they constituted an “integral to the museum’s commercial purpose.”

This suit was brought forward after a visitor complained about how the museum care for Hemingway’s cats. According to the ABA Journal, “[t]he agency wanted the museum to obtain an animal exhibitor’s license; either cage the cats at night, construct a higher fence to contain them, or hire a night watchman to keep an eye on them; tag each cat; and construct ‘elevated resting surfaces’ for animals.” With the adverse ruling, it looks as if the museum will now have to implement these regulations.

See Debra Cassens Weiss, Hemingway Cat Descendants Are Regulated By Federal Law, Appeals Court Says, ABAJournal, Dec. 11, 2012.