This sorority of security cats prowl the basement and attic of the State Hermitage Museum located in St. Petersburg, Russia. It’s not a practice that’s been adopted just recently, but rather, Guard-cats-prowl-the-State-Hermitage-Museumever since the museum was founded in 1764. The sole purpose of the cats is to keep rats at bay from the museum’s artwork, some of it, priceless.
When Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg) was under siege at the time of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, all the cats were eaten by the starving citizens, and the rats were having their day, such that even the museum was not spared from their destructive tendencies. It was after the blockade was over that two cat-wielding carriages entered the city. You can imagine the massacre that transpired.
Each of the cats patrolling the museum has a passport with a photo that it carries around which certifies that the holder is qualified to take on the magnanimous task of eating rats and that they are not posing as intruders. They’re fed very well and their healthcare is enviable.
When Leningrad (present-day St. Petersburg) was under siege at the time of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, all the cats were eaten by the starving citizens, and the rats were having their day, such that even the museum was not spared from their destructive tendencies. It was after the blockade was over that two cat-wielding carriages entered the city. You can imagine the massacre that transpired.
Each of the cats patrolling the museum has a passport with a photo that it carries around which certifies that the holder is qualified to take on the magnanimous task of eating rats and that they are not posing as intruders. They’re fed very well and their healthcare is enviable.
No comments:
Post a Comment