On my flight home to Cleveland for the holidays, I read in today’s New York Times an article “Guess Who’s Minding the Store” by Kate Hammer) revealing that owners of delis and bodegas in New York City are not supposed to own in-store cats. At least two of them do in my neighborhood (the kids love ’em!) and I guess it makes sense that both the city’s health code and state law forbid animals in places where food or beverages are sold for human consumption.
But as the article notes, bodegas are also not supposed to have rats. Realizing that the $300 fine from a health inspector for the first offense of having a cat is the same as the fee for the same inspector finding rodent feces, many bodega owners have decided to gamble with keeping their cats on staff. But although the city recognizes that even the smell of cats in an enclosed area will keep mice away, it figures the risk of consumables contaminated by a cat is greater, hence the law.
Related: Working Class Cats, a blog about kitties working in big cities.