Dear colleague and friend,
I received the attached letter from Milan. The occurence that she is reporting seems improbable to me; however, if you want to mention it in your l'Eleveur, you are in a better position than me to decide whether this mongrel has hair or... feathers.
Best regards, G. de Cherville

Sir, I often read your interesting articles in "Temps" and I see that you are concerned with the ways of domestic animals. I think you will read with interest the included article that I detached from the "Gazzetta ticieine," of Lugano due 12 current:

"A CURIOUS CASE OF FERTILIZATION. - A trustworthy person tells us about a strange case of fertilization which we reproduce out of curiosity, without guaranteeing the accuracy of the interpretation. In Sessa, in M.D.M.'s house, a cat recently gave birth to five little ones of varying coats whose heads and bodies have the shape and structure of small dogs and the ends of the paws are those of small cats, since they have curved and retractable nails. Instead of barking, these little animals meow like cats. We are assured that the cat in question was impregnated by a dog that lives in the same house. Three of the little ones in question died during birth. The dog to whom the paternity of these little runts is attributed, hastened to bury the little corpses in a neighbouring garden. The cat, perhaps tired by the visits of people who came to see the phenomenon, hid the last two which she continues to suckle." (This extract was in Italian, we translated it for the convenience of our readers - Editorial staff.).

In this regard it is appropriate to recall that a similar case occurred in Milan a few years ago and it was the subject of a communication from Professor Verga to the Lombard Institute. A cat, belonging to a lady Orsenigo, felt antipathy for individuals of her own species, and accepted the affections of a small dog. She gave birth to half-breeds, one of whom lived and grew up. He had the characteristics of both a dog and a cat, and his photograph was presented to the Institute. I attended the session (as a simple spectator) and I saw it.

Please accept, Sir, with the expression of my gratitude for the pleasant readings that I owe you, my respectful greetings.
Milan , June 13, 1888.

E. Torelli-Viollier, Director of "Corriere Della Sera."
The facts reported above lack, to be conclusive, authentic proof that the cats in question were actually fertilized by the dogs, and only by them, proof of which is not given. Until rigorous experiments are carried out in laboratories by scientists in line with the requirements of modern science, we are forced to consider as erroneous, not the existence of the facts, but their interpretation. Indeed, positive scientific observations have established that animal species that are too distantly related and especially those from different zoological families, such as dogs and cats, cannot mate with each other and produce offspring. All the facts that are put forward to invalidate this law are the result of an error of interpretation.

Recently, we were shown little dogs that had just been birthed by a black and tan terrier female dog and all of which, it was said, had the heads of rats. In fact, their heads were elongated and shrunk, more closely resembling the shape of a weasel's head. The fact was explained by saying that the dog had hunted rats a lot during her pregnancy and had destroyed a certain number of them, and the sight of these rats had an influence on the shape of her offspring.

In dissecting these young dogs, we found, of course, nothing in the teeth or the structure of the head that was reminiscent of the rat; but there was a teratological deformation in the width of the skull bones and consequently a narrowing of the cranial vault, but all the elements were indeed those of a dog. We are convinced that this is what happened to the offspring of Sessa's cat: they had a teratological deformation of the skull which gave their heads the appearance of a dog's head; but they were indeed cats and nothing but cats, and this deformation was too complete in three of them to allow them to live.

The common masses have a great tendency to see animals of different species in monstrous foetuses or in those who present teratological deformations, such that at any moment we read news items like this one published in this week's newspaper: A woman recently gave birth to a horse! Everyone in Paris remembers the unfortunate man who was exhibited a few years ago under the name: The Calf-Headed Man. An abnormal thickening of his lips and surrounding skin, and the prognathism of his jaws gave the lower part of his face the appearance of a snout or one fancied it the head of a calf! The so-called crossbreeds of cats and dogs are the results of teratological accidents of the same category.
P.M.

DO WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KILL CATS? L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1888
The case law, in this regard, is not settled. In fact, we only know of two judgments rendered on this subject and which are quite contradictory.

First judgment, pronounced on January 12, 1886, by the magistrate of Argenteuil: "Cats can only be considered domestic animals as long as they remain on their master's property. When they are found wandering on the public highway or among neighbours, it is permitted to destroy them, especially if they are caught in the act of malevolence; and whoever destroys them in such a case is only using the right of legitimate defence and is not committing any offence."

Here is another judgment from the justice of the peace of Fontainebleau, dated May 15, 1885: "Cats, although somewhat wild in nature, are domestic animals. When the murder and destruction of these animals is not done out of compelling necessity and, on the contrary ,access to the defendant's property is somehow open to neighbourhood cats, only traps and bait were placed there and cats, falling into these traps, were knocked unconscious or were caught in the act of theft or damage, there is reason to condemn the murderer.

Which one should we believe?

MARQUIS G. DE CHERVILLE: The Cats and Dogs of EUGENE LAMBERT, with a letter-preface by ALEXANDRE DUMAS jnr L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1888
A new work by the Marquis de Cherville is always good news for hunters and sportsmen. Today the brilliant columnist of "Temps," the master of the hunting arts, as he is called, addresses not only his colleagues in Saint-Hubert [saint of huntsman], but all dog and cat lovers; and they are many. Dogs and Cats; perhaps you will agree that these two names cry out to be united on paper. No doubt, in general, the dog pursues the cat with keen animosity, and the cat shows real antipathy towards the dog. The Marquis de Cherville assures us that this aversion has been singularly mitigated by domestication, and, to prove it, he tells us a host of anecdotes and memoirs which show the two races living in perfect understanding; unfortunately there are frequent exceptions, and we only want as proof the little story that the last issue of ‘Diana' brings us:

"A lady from Lausanne has three cats that she loves; in recent days, two ladies, accompanied by a muzzled lilliputian Pug, came to visit her. The cats fell upon the unfortunate Pug which, unable to defend himself was left in a pitiful state. One of those ladies present then took the side of the dog, so the cats, abandoning it, turned against its generous protector whom they bit and scratched in the most beautiful way." As we see, gentlemen, cats are not always as gentle as we would like to say.

But what a literary treat is the charming and perfect text of the Marquis de Cherville. No one knows how to talk about animals better than he, not only because he has studied them, but because he loves them. It is not a historiography, a scientific study of dogs and cats; it is a series of observations recounted with infinite charm on the two races immortalized by the pencil or brush of E. Lambert. As for the drawings of the one nicknamed the "painter of cats," we cannot describe them; you have to see them for yourself and marvel at his perfect talent.

In the representation of his dogs and cats Eugene Lambert does not limit himself to the fidelity of the external type, he feels, he guesses what is happening in their innermost depths, he grasps their thoughts, he translates in some way their soul . . . Each scene starring either the dog or the cat, or both combined, is a witty comedy or a small, moving drama. In this volume there are 150 unpublished drawings or sketches and 6 original etchings (the first to be engraved by E. Lambert) which show so many charming scenes, so many delightful compositions. It is the only book that the Library of Art published for the 1889 New Year special; but, it is a choice work and will count among the artistic publications of recent years. As nothing was spared to make this volume a complete work, Mr. Alexandre Dumas was asked for a preface. After Moncrif and Champfleury, Mr. Dumas junior wanted to rehabilitate the cats so mistreated by Mr. de Buffon; he has done this, but a little to the detriment of the canine breed, which will be regretted by all the disciples of Saint-Hubert whose ranks contain a large number of cat haters.

Dogs and Cats is an absolutely remarkable book, a truly beautiful New Year's book for lovers. Everyone, I am convinced, will want to own this work which honours at the same time the great artist, the writer and the Library of Art which has published it with particular care.

DESTRUCTION OF POACHING CATS L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1889

A subscriber asks us the following question: Can a farm cat that abandons its master's home to go hunting in the fields be destroyed by the guard of the property whose game it destroys?

In our issue of November 4, 1888, we published, on this subject, two perfectly contradictory decisions of justices of the peace, and we understand that our subscriber is perplexed and wishes to be enlightened in order to be able to warn himself against these graceful felines lovingly portrayed by Lambert and sung by Baudelaire, Champfleury, Stanler, Renouard, etc., authors who, certainly, were not hunters and never suspected the disasters that these velvet-footed buccaneers cause to our feathered and furred game.

By speaking of the need to protect game and to enforce the right of hunting by dogs without their master, or stray dogs (1), we have demonstrated that in their capacity as domestic animals, they can only be destroyed in case of legitimate defence.

With regard to the cat, the holder of a hunting right is not required to take the same precautions, due to its independent character, which makes it more of a companion than a true domestic animal; his nature easily takes over and if he leaves his master's home temporarily or permanently to indulge his carnivorous instincts, he is nothing more than a wild animal, a predatory beast that does not deserve more protection than other harmful and harmful carnivores.

If, despite the above considerations, the owner of a cat wanted to argue its status as a domestic animal and have a report drawn up against the author of its death, relying on article 479, para 3 of the Penal Code which prohibits injuring or killing animals belonging to others, and, consequently, to claim damages, it would first be necessary to prove ownership of the animal (2). Then, he himself exposes himself to being asked for damages, perhaps more considerable, because, under the terms of article 1385 of the Civil Code, he is responsible for damage caused in the fields or in the woods by his lost or escaped animal (here the cat). Not because game can be considered property, but because the RIGHT OF HUNTING [i.e. on one's own land] is one of the most real accessories of property and it itself disappears with the destroyed game exterminated by cats (3).

(1) L'Eleveur. No. 165 "February 24, 1888).
(2) Court of the Seine, Judgment of August 15, 1865.
(3) "You are not," says Mr. Jullemier very rightly (page 13, of Hunting Trials), "the owner of the game that wanders in your fields and in your woods, but you have a possible right to this game, a right of custody, as long as he stays with you, you can prevent anyone from coming to kill or take him.

The Police Courts of Argenteuil (judgment of January 12, 1886), of Potiers (judgment of March 24, 1887), of Rambouillet (March 3, 1866) and another judgment indicated by our colleague Lajoye (1) confirm this theory that, if the harm exists, the need to stop it is legal, the destruction of vagrant cats is lawful (2).

Mr. Villequez, lieutenant of the wolf-hunting guild, dean of the Faculty of Law of Dijon, is also affirmative (3):

"Cats that escape from farms and villages also cause great damage. Those who have lost the spirit of returning home, no longer belonging to anyone, can be shot without scruple and without crime. I have often encountered them in the woods and at distances very far from homes. For a long time I refrained from shooting them but, since I had the opportunity to observe the work that one of them was carrying out in the midst of a company of young partridges, my scruples have been considerably weakened. I started with that one, from which I took his partridge. It has since been followed by several others."

Neither this eminent author nor jurisprudence affirms that one can kill all the cats which are encountered in the fields, at a short distance from towns or villages; but those who are caught in the act of stealing, or you are even simply convinced of them being in the habit of frequent vagrancy, may be killed. Needless to add that those who live in the woods and have become completely wild, the gun must do prompt justice; a large number of prefectural decrees authorize their destruction, even without a hunting permit.
VALADON.

(1) Lajoye. lawyer at the Court of Pas, L'Acclimatation Journal, November 21, 1887.
(2) Compare: judgments, -supreme court, December 17, 1864 - November 17, 1865 - March 7, 1868 - July 7, 1851.
(3) The right to destroy harmful or harmful animals. -- Seventh edition.

CATS WITHOUT TAILS. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1893
Mr. Adrien de Mortillet has just presented a cat without a tail to the Anthropological Society. It comes from the Isle of Man. It absolutely resembles the common cat in habits and appearance, except that it only has a stump of a tail, covered with hair, 2 or 3 centimetres long and similar to a rabbit's tail. Like the latter, he frequently raises it. To the touch, you can feel the atrophied coccygeal vertebrae. Cats without tails abound in Japan and those on the Isle of Man could well, according to Doctor F. Regnault, come from there. They would descend from individuals brought from the Far East by some sailor. Likewise, those from Japan appear to come from Java, because all cats imported to this island lose their tails in the fourth generation. Mr. de Mortillet, by crossing with an ordinary she-cat, will be able to see his cat give birth to young similar to her. He will thus produce an original breed in Paris.

FIDELITY OF A CAT. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1893
Mr. Miller, representative of an industrial company, resident in New Haven (United States), has a cat, Tessie, who is a marvel of fidelity. Tessie is four years old. Now, for a long time, she has been in the habit of going to meet her master when he returns from work. Throughout his meal, she stays close to him and does not leave him for a second. When Mr. Miller's wife and daughter, to whom she is very attached, are absent, she lets out desperate meows which, it seems, annoys the entire neighbourhood. This is why the household, without regard for her attachment, resolved to get rid of her.

She was given to a conductor from the New Haven docks. The man took her to his house and locked her there for several days. When he thought she was well used to the house, he let her go. She took advantage of this moment of freedom to immediately return to her first masters. But, as she continued to meow during their absence, they persisted in their plan and gave her to the captain of a steamboat transporting travellers from New York to New Haven. Nothing was heard of Tessie for some time.

But one morning last week, Mrs. Miller, opening her window, saw Tessie at the door, calmly washing herself and waiting for someone to open the door. This time, her constancy was rewarded: she was welcomed into the house, and it was decided that she would never leave it again. This young cat, who, for loyalty, is close to a Saint Bernard, is the admiration of all the people in the neighbourhood.

COLLECTION OF CATS. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1893

Doctor Luzan Yaneway Coltman, from Germantown, has a collection of cats unique in the world. It is valued at 5,000 dollars (25,000 francs); It includes 22 subjects including cats from Skye, Zanzibar, fluffy-tailed cats from Turkey, Isle of Man kitties without tails, white Maltese, yellow Persians and tiger cats from England. They are all remarkable for their beauty as well as their aristocratic genealogy.

SIAMESE CATS. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1893

Mr. Milne-Edwards, director of the Museum, was recently received by the President of the Republic who donated to him, for the Zoological Garden, two Siamese cats, sent by Mr. Pavie, consul general in Bangkok. These dog-haired cats, white with black heads, a very rare and extremely wild species, are, it seems, wonderful hunters. They were installed in a specially designed cabin.

CAT EXTERMINATOR. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1893

The police court in Harlem (United States) recently tried Ms. Sarah Edwards, known by the nickname "cat exterminator". She belongs to a strange association of women called the "midnight band of mercy" and whose members have the mission "to kill without pain and through humanity the cats wandering during the night in the streets and having neither shelter nor livelihood." Mrs. Edwards carried out this mission with great zeal, because on the evening she was arrested by a policeman, she had already killed a dozen cats whose bodies she carried in a large basket. Her dress was covered in catnip, which she used to attract animals which she then chloroformed and killed. The president of the association protested against the prosecution and the cat killer was released provisionally until the court had ruled on the case and could see whether this work of mercy does not hide a supply business for the budget restaurants of Harlem.

THE CAT OF SIAM L'Eleveur (The Breeder). Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, No. 56. - November 10, 1895.

(1) In this engraving, the bottom of the dress is too dark and the mask and the ends are not black enough.

We know that the English love of all kinds of animals. Cats have their enthusiasts like dogs and fowls, and every year there is a brilliant exhibition of domestic felines, in which we can distinguish a large number of breeds. These breeds are described and represented in a book by Mr. Harrison Weir, entitled Our Cats, where we found some information on the Siamese cat, specimens of which have been seen on the other side of the Channel for more than twenty-five years. However, it remained rare there, because, says Mr. Weir, from 1871 to 1887, only nineteen were exhibited, including fifteen she-cats and four tomcats, almost all castrated. The English, who make trips to Siam, however, frequently bring them back; but they are delicate and succumb easily, especially to the affliction of worms. It seems that the true breed only exists in the palace of the King of Siam, where it is difficult to obtain them. The king is very jealous of this royal breed, which is why he does not allow entire males to be exported.

Their food consists of boiled rice and fish; they also eat meat and prefer small birds and small quadrupeds. They are very attached to their master and follow him like little dogs. They are very difficult to raise until they are six months old. They are born almost white, with a small dark grey line on the edge of the ears; the extremities gradually turn black until the age of one year.

According to M. H. Weir, the characteristic points of the Siamese cat are as follows:

Size and shape: a little smaller than our European cat, with an elegant and graceful profile, straight and a little long; legs thin and a little short, feet longer, less rounded than in the ordinary cat, neck long and thin.
Small head, broad between the eyes, narrowing at the nape of the neck and between the ears, straight and receding forehead, long and fairly broad nose, cheeks narrowing towards the mouth, full to rounded lips; ears quite large and broad at base, not very hairy inside; almond-shaped eyes, slanting towards the nose, with an opaline blue iris, with a luminous and reddish pupil in the dark and in the light.
Tail shorter than that of the ordinary cat, a little thick at the root, gradually tapering towards the tip.
Hair short, somewhat woolly, soft and silky to the touch, shiny and lustrous on the face, legs and tail.
Solid base colour, a little darker on the back; café au lait, pale silver grey, light orange, brilliant fawn are the preferred colours. We also accept more or less dark browns, almost chocolate, provided they are without stain; but we repeat, light colours should be preferred.
Markings: Black ears; this colour not extending beyond these organs; black mask, black tails and legs. Black must not spread to the body or mark it.
Condition. In full health, the Siamese cat must not be too fat, must have soft light, shiny, lustrous hair, lying flat on the body which must show hard and firm muscles.

We only know of two families of this cat in France: one, quite numerous and with very vigorous subjects, which lives in the laboratory of Professor Milne-Edwards, director of the Jardin des Plantes; the other, made up of a pair, a male and a female, at the home of Senator Waldeck-Rousseau.
P.M.

LEGAL CONSULTATIONS. CATS, PESTS AND LAWFUL DEFENCE. -THE RIGHT TO KILL THEM. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1895

Response to Mr. A.-B. J.
"Do I have the right to destroy cats which, in my walled garden, come to seize the pheasants from my aviaries, which thus panicked are injured or killed against the fences and cause me considerable losses?" This is in substance the question asked by my honourable interlocutor. I will not give here a long legal study on the animal which, for centuries, in a body of feline literature capable of composing an entire library on its own, has certainly found more apologists than detractors. I will content myself with talking about this pretty beast dear to so many illustrious people, to prose writers, storytellers, poets "to Richelieu and to Mother Michel", to indicate the rights that man can have over him.

Is the cat a domestic animal?
Yes, if we believe certain naturalists and a definition of the Court of Cassation [supreme court for civil and criminal cases in France] in its judgment of March 14, 1861 which says: "domestic animals are all animated beings which live, grow, are nourished and reproduce by the care and under the roof of man." No, if we refer to the same naturalists who tell us about the fauna of the woods and wild cats; no again, if we consult the prefectural decrees which classify this dangerous poacher in the list of predatory animals which can be destroyed even after the end of the hunt.

The truth is that the cat, easily domesticated because of its nature, its gluttony and its cowardice, resumes in an instant its wild nature, the bloodthirsty instincts of a nomadic carnivore to preserve them, as long as it finds live and easy prey outside the home. It does us great services in its war on mice and rats, but of all the quadrupeds of creation it is the most terrible destroyer of birds useful to agriculture and the most formidable destroyer of game.

The cat is certainly not the perfect private animal; we only have it on hand if it suits him to come and consume milk or treats which allow him to change his ordinary life. In short, he is, in his spare time, a companion, an independent, a cruelly voracious wanderer. There is therefore no doubt that, whether in the fields or in the woods, where it readily stays during the months of laying or brooding to treacherously throttle the mothers or the young chicks, it can be mercilessly sacrificed like its voracious congeners and accomplices.

In a city, a town, a village, or a hamlet, the cat is considered a domestic animal, to get rid of it you must be able to invoke legitimate defence, this is your case against cats which, coming to roam around your breeding yards or aviaries cause you great losses. It is therefore up to you to clearly establish the origin of the damage caused by these cruel beasts. Observe their continued presence in your garden, because the jurisprudence is not very firm in the direction that I recommend against these felines, which, from experience I fear more than all the known mustelids, beech martens, polecats, weasels, etc., etc.

Failing to clearly demonstrate the need to use the right of legitimate defence against animals that cause you real harm in your aviaries, Article 479 of the Penal Code could apply to you. By another means, you could obtain satisfaction, but you would have to know the owners of the cats and in turn pursue them; in Civil court, article 1384 should be invoked against them.

In addition to the damages to be claimed before the Court, you can also have a simple police summons and in turn request the application of article 479, para 2. of the Penal Code: and this same article which motivated the convictions for destruction of cats, could on the contrary serve as a basis for a penalty imposed against their owners who, by allowing these harmful animals to wander, will have thus (this is the case in point) caused the death or injury of animals belonging to others: your pheasants in the aviary.

An objection might be raised: domestic cats are not harmful animals! You will respond with reason, science and evidence in hand (your young destroyed), all carnivores left to their own devices, abandoned to their instincts, are harmful and nuisance animals.

Personally, I repeat, I do not know of breeders or hunters who have more terrible enemies than cats. For the protection of small insectivorous birds, their extermination should be decreed. In a city park of my acquaintance, very wooded, although not very extensive in surface area, more than one hundred and fifty nests of charming birds, eaters of larvae and insects, are plundered by cats. These pretty and useful birds cannot be protected here, as they do not belong to anyone (res. nullius}, they remain easy prey for cats. Your aviary pheasants, fortunately for them and for you, constitute property, this must be respected. Either the cats are locked up at their masters' homes or that you are compensated. You can, in any case, kill them, your right of legitimate defence cannot be in doubt.
VALADON

ABOUT THE CAT. FROM THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNALL'Eleveur (The Breeder), Combined with Hunting and Sports Magazine, Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1901

"This animal provides us with eminent services by destroying a lot of vermin, particularly rats and mice, in our houses and their outbuildings in the countryside. Their smell is enough, it is said, to keep these rodents away. On the other hand, it causes great damage when left to its own devices and roams far from homes. The cat is a hunter by instinct, and when he is in the fields, he does not hesitate to hunt small birds which he kills and which he then greedily devours. It is during the brooding period that the cat commits the most harm; by its lightness it climbs trees to reach the nests and the whole brood is destroyed there. Nightingales which establish their nests on low branches are the first victims.

"Without asking for the extermination of cats, however, it is in the farmers' interest, because of the misdeeds that we have just attributed to them, not to let them multiply and to raise them in such a way that they do not move away from homes. Any cat roaming the countryside must be mercilessly put to death, because once a cat has started to hunt birds it takes a liking to it and willingly abandons the mice to devote itself to this hunt, and all farmers know how useful birds are to them by the quantity of harmful insects they destroy.

A CAT HOSPITAL IN PRUSSIA. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Combined with Hunting and Sports Magazine, Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1901
This innovation is due to the generosity of an old German lady, an animal-loving Fraulein, who had a health centre built for cats a few months ago on her property in Spreenhagen, not far from Berlin. Only cats are received and treated in the hospital we are talking about, where twelve very comfortable rooms, heated by steam and lit by electricity, are reserved for the most seriously affected cats. In addition, an operating room has been installed on the ground floor, with all the essential accessories. Once a week, a veterinarian from Berlin comes to provide care to the residents of Spreenhagen. There are currently around sixty cats who walk during the day in a vast six-hectare park surrounding the hospital and at night, huddle around a large German-style stove, in the middle of the common room. Needless to say, the care is absolutely free and the cats are cared for until they fully recover.
Paul de Bart.

POSTAL CATS. L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Combined with Hunting and Sports Magazine, Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1901

Among the employees of the United States Post Office are a thousand cats distributed in the various offices whose function is to protect mail bags against rats and mice. These vigilant auxiliaries receive their salaries in kind, in the form of food and board, and they are duly registered on the payroll list. When the office staff welcomes a new family of little cats, official notification of the event is given to the general manager and an additional sum is included in the budget for the needs of the newborn employees.

Paul de Bart.

AMIENS CIVIL COURT. AN HEIR CAT L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Combined with Hunting and Sports Magazine, Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1901

It is sad, when dying, to leave behind you, abandoned to mercenary care, the beings you loved most. A widow from Amiens loved a cat; you have to love something. When she felt herself declining, she felt great pity for the purring beast who, by caressing her, gave her solitude the illusion of tenderness. She could have demanded that her heirs kill the animal, a definitive means of ensuring its rest. She preferred to leave him on this earth. Perhaps she took a secret pleasure in the idea of being missed. However, she didn't want the survivor to suffer: she wanted to be mourned, but by a happy cat. She therefore bequeathed by will, out of the available share of her property, 300 francs. of annuities to the said cat, whose name was Cadet-Roussel.

The will is currently displayed within the framework of administrative acts, at the Town Hall in Amiens, under the heading: "calling unknown heirs." Unfortunately, it raises legal difficulties. A cat does not pass as a civil person and has no capacity to receive a legacy. Here is the unfortunate Cadet-Roussel condemned to fasting; but, by an irony of fate, the following articles of the will are perfectly valid. However, these articles award an annuity of 100 francs to the veterinarian who will treat the cat and provide 100 francs for the purchase of drugs. The veterinarian is fully capable of receiving the legacies: therefore Cadet-Roussel will be cared for, but he will not be fed; unless, by a bold fiction, the court considers milk and soft drinks as medicines; in which case, said cat would live on a pension of around eight cents per day, which represents a pretty comfortable amount for a cat.

But the most singular thing about the affair is that the three hundred francs of income, directly bequeathed to Cadet-Roussel and which Cadet-Roussel has no capacity to receive, were to, after his death, pass to the poor children of a hospice located in the parish of Saint-Leu. However, this provision is also obsolete, since it is subject to the execution of an unenforceable condition. And the grandchildren of Saint-Leu will be deprived of the resources to which Cadet-Roussel is not entitled. These are the severities of the law; but she has clemency. And despite strict law, a cat can very well become a usufructuary [beneficial owner], when it is the poor who are the legal owners. (Amiens newspaper)

THE CAT WHO RETRIEVES L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Combined with Hunting and Sports Magazine, Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1901

A Forest and Stream collaborator gives some details about a cat of his that he trained to accompany him hunting. It is a striped cat, a diminutive tiger, physically at least, because morally the animal is extremely gentle and affectionate. It was through patience that his master managed to train it. The latter, obviously, knows the cat and how to handle it. He knows that nothing will be achieved through violence and brutality: the cat is only sensitive to good treatment and gentleness. It is enough to scold it once to undo the work of entire weeks; a blow will render all further attempts at training absolutely futile. The cat wants to be a companion and a friend, it will never be a slave. It will learn if it wants to, because it suits him, and not because it is forced to. It was therefore through patience that the training of the cat in question was carried out. The hunter called it every time game had just been killed, he took it to the kill, he entrusted it to the cat. Little by little, it came to look for the game itself. After this, it was trained to stay with the hunter. First, it was necessary to get it into the habit of remaining on his shoulder during the walk in search of game; then to get it used to hearing the gunshot - starting with a small rifle - and instilling in it the idea of "retrieving" by throwing, after each gunshot, a ball which he was accustomed to using in his games. Thus the association between the concepts "retrieve" and "gunshot" is established. Once the animal was in the habit of running after the ball as soon as the detonation was heard, he took a further step in its education by replacing the ball with a dead bird which was thrown into the grass. Then, he stopped throwing the bird, it was hung in a branch and he made it fall after the gunshot. The cat found it perfectly, and got used to following the direction of the gun to find the direction of the bird, and to running to look for it as soon as the shot was fired. Training was thus completed; we could thus enter the domain of real hunting. His master took him, made him jump on his shoulder, aimed at a sparrow, killed it, the cat immediately jumped to the ground and went to fetch the victim. This was enough for the first day, and the bird was given as a reward to the quadruped. Every day he started again, each time going further, and with the same success. The cat's training is now complete: as soon as he whistles at it, it arrives with joy, it trots and frolics along the path; it watches for game on its own and often signals, by its attitude, to its master who has not yet seen it. What it doesn't quite understand, however, is why the latter disdains so many small birds and is only interested in those of a certain size. But it will manage to understand, there is no doubt about it, because the cat is an intelligent animal, despite what many humans say who confuse docility and intelligence.

THE POACHING CAT L'Eleveur (The Breeder), Combined with Hunting and Sports Magazine, Illustrated Weekly Newspaper of Animal husbandry, Acclimatization, Hunting, 1901
In recent days, I have witnessed a fact which I believe I must report to your readers. The cheerful spring sun disappeared on the horizon and I walked on the edge of a wood dreaming as one can dream when one has reached the age where one lives more memories than hopes. At one point I saw, in a meadow running alongside the woods, a blackish animal gliding through the grass with endless premonitions. I thought it was a young fox looking for its supper. Quickly I hid myself in the thicket. Arriving at the edge of a burrow, the animal crouched and I could hardly see it anymore. I waited to see what would happen.

Twenty minutes passed. Suddenly a magnificent rabbit comes out of its burrow and happily begins to wash itself. Alas! the happy male was far from suspecting that it was his funeral toilet that he was doing. With a jump the animal I was watching for jumped around his neck. A shrill cry resounded in the solitude. Then, nothing more. Death had undoubtedly accomplished its work. I ran to the scene of the crime. What was my surprise when I saw running away, trying to carry off its prey, not a fox, as I supposed, but a magnificent cat, fat enough to make the tomcats strutting around the living rooms jealous. A vigorously and skilfully thrown stone made him let go and I picked up the unfortunate panting rabbit, struggling in the last spasms of agony. Like a common poacher, I slipped it under my vest and the next day I made it my lunch. Thank you Mr. Puss!

Two days later I told the fact to the wood guard who is a friend of mine. He then told me that for several weeks he had been finding quite a few young hares and young rabbits half-eaten and that he could not explain this slaughter. No doubt, my hero was indeed the culprit! At dusk we went to the edge of the woods, he with his gun, me followed by my dog Leo. We were in ambush for a few moments about 200 meters from each other, when I saw my provider from the day before come out of the copse opposite and come to stand near a burrow which was forty paces from me. My dog saw him, I didn't see him there. My dog having seen him, I let him go and in a few leaps he forced him to climb a tree. We could not have wished for a better solution. The guard comes running. A shot rings out. The criminal had paid his debt.

Does this simple fact not indisputably show that cats are great destroyers of game, just as cunning and just as greedy for blood and flesh, as the fox, the polecat and the weasel? Colleagues in Saint-Hubert [i.e. fellow hunters], when you see a cat wandering in the fields and in the woods, do not hesitate to shoot it dead. It will be good work. To the wise, hello!
(Diana) Leo Take.