One of the joys of traveling (for this writer, anyway) is the fact that many countries around the world have a surfeit of local cats and dogs who just kind of hang out, neither bothering with nor being bothered by the humans with whom they share their environment. I’ve never been to China, but it appears that the city of Xi’an, at least, has a healthy supply of cats, so much so that they’ve invaded a local museum, sparking a controversy on the hugely popular Chinese social networking site Weibo.
According to Artnet, a family of cats recently took up residence in the courtyard of the Forest of Stone Steles Museum, some 675 miles southwest of Beijing. The animals became Weibo sensations, with visitors delighting in taking photos of themselves with the local feline celebrities. But! Drama! After one of the kittens got sick of the the attention and scratched a small child, Museum officials resolved to evict the entire family. This did not go down well with the internet, and users swarmed to the magazine’s Weibo page, imploring those in charge to reverse their decision and allow the cats to stay.
This story, at least, has a happy ending: according to China Daily, the Museum’s management has relented, announcing on Weibo:
“The kittens can stay, finally! Thank you for your support and concern in the past few days. Our museum will enhance supervision of these kittens, giving them vaccines, insect repellent, sterilization, as well as setting up warning signs within our scenic area. We’ll provide a warm and loving environment for them and our visitors. Please feel free to come and visit them, but please, no more touching.”
And now, back to our scheduled coverage of the Trumpocalypse. Sorry.