Murtha is a cat lover! [View All]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/23/AR2005122301513.html

Army Navy Club Going to War on Cats

By Tara Bahrampour
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 24, 2005; Page B03

For Bootsie, Sylvester and their friends and relations, meals at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington are a gourmet affair.

Each morning the cats, who live on the club's generous expanse of rolling hills, come running when club members Tom and Dottie Evans appear. Near a sign that reads "Cat Crossing," the Evanses pop open cans of steaming tuna, turkey, and "mixed grill," kept warm in a Coleman cooler, followed with kibble and fresh water. The cats purr and rub their benefactors' legs, and in the evening the ritual is repeated, with additional club members contributing food, and occasionally warm half-and-half, to the bounty.

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But now club officials have decided that the cats must go.

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Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), a 20-year club member, said he is outraged.

"That's just terrible," he said. "It doesn't make sense to me, it doesn't meet the common-sense test."

Citing his work on behalf of animals, including writing language into bills to limit the use of cats in military experiments, and to allow a wounded veteran to keep the dog she had worked with in Iraq, Murtha said he plans to talk with board members about the cat removal.