If cats could form organized groups for the greater good of felines everywhere, there’s no doubt their first order of business would be to form some kind of union for bodega/library/coffee shop cats’ rights. Alas, they cannot.
As a result, Penny the cat was in danger of being evicted from her home for the last 9 years, Massachusetts’ Swansea Public Library, by a guy who admittedly has a point, but can we still call him kind of a douche? He first got the idea to attempt the cat eviction after a number of parents mentioned to him that their children were allergic.
Patrick Higgins sent an email to Swansea Public Library trustees last Saturday, which said he would file a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice if Penny was not removed from the premises. According to Higgins, people allergic to cats would be unable to use the library which meant the public building did not comply with the American Disabilities Act.
According to the pro-Penny petition on Change.org, which has garnered over 1,800 signatures, Penny’s the latest in a long history of Swansea library cats. The petition also states that no previous allergy-related complaints had ever been filed.
Higgins, shocked by the outpouring of support for Penny, has dropped his efforts to have her evicted. He’s baffled. “We’ve got pictures of the cat on Facebook laying on top of a laptop and they think this is ok. I just don’t understand it. […] The cat has gone all over the world. You’ve got the petition with over 2,000 people over a freaking cat.”
