Cat Hospitals and Refuges 



In Rome, they have a commendable system of caring 

 for their cats. At a certain hour butchers' men drive 

 through the city, with carts well stocked with cat's 

 meat. They utter a peculiar cry which the cats rec- 

 ognize, and come hurrying out of the houses for their 

 allowances, which are paid for by the owners at a 

 certain rate per month. 



In Boston, during the summer of 1895, a firm of 

 butchers took subscriptions from philanthropic citi- 

 zens, and raised enough to defray the expenses of 

 feeding the cats on the Back Bay, — where, in spite 

 of the fact that the citizens are all wealthy and sup- 

 posedly humane, there are more starving cats than 

 elsewhere in the city. But the experiment has not 

 been repeated. 



Hospitals for sick animals are no new thing, but a 

 really comfortable home for cats is an enterprise in 

 which many a woman who now asks despondently 

 what she can do in this overcrowded world to earn a 

 living, might find pleasant and profitable. 



A most worthy charity is that of the Animal Rescue 

 League in Boston, which was started by Mrs. Anna 

 Harris Smith in 1899. She put a call in the news- 

 papers, asking those who were interested in the sub- 

 ject to attend a meeting and form a league for the 

 protection and care of lost or deserted pets. The 

 response was immediate and generous. The Animal 

 Rescue League was formed with several hundred 

 members, and in a short time the house at 68 Carver 



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