http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/07/09/hemingway.cats.ap/index.html

KEY WEST, Florida (AP) -- City officials have sided with Ernest Hemingway's
former home and its celebrated six-toed felines in its cat fight with the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Patches, a descendant of Ernest Hemingway's six-toed cats, is on the prowl
in Key West, Florida.

The Key West City Commission exempted the home from a city law prohibiting
more than four domestic animals per household.

About 50 cats live there.

The house has been locked in a dispute with the USDA, which claims the
museum is an "exhibitor" of cats and needs a special license, a claim the
home disputes.

The new ordinance reads in part, "The cats reside on the property just as
the cats did in the time of Hemingway himself. They are not on exhibition in
the manner of circus animals. ... The City Commission finds that family of
polydactyl Hemingway cats are indeed animals of historic, social and tourism
significance."

It also states that the cats are "an integral part of the history and
ambiance of the Hemingway House."

A USDA spokesman did not return messages left late Sunday.

The cats are descendants of a six-toed cat given as a gift to the writer in
1935. All carry the gene for six toes, though not all display the trait.