| In the long history of human-animals relationships, a | | | | of millions of companion animals, however, the plague |
| few episodes stand out in which one species has | | | | did not abate but actually accelerated, for, of course, |
| made a significant contribution to the survival of | | | | the elimination of all cats was soon followed by an |
| another. Rarely do cats get credit for such an | | | | explosion of the rat population. |
| accomplishment--more often dogs or horses, and | | | | Eventually it became evident that people who had |
| then, usually in times of war--but the Black Plague of | | | | kept cats, in violation of the law, fared better; for |
| Europe is one of those times. | | | | the cats, according to their nature, killed the rats that |
| By way of background, the ancient Romans, in their | | | | carried the fleas that really carried the plague. People |
| conquest of Egypt, had brought cats home to | | | | slowly began to deduce the rat-flea-disease |
| Europe. Cats subsequently suffered a period of | | | | connection. When the truth finally came to light, cats |
| disfavor during the superstitious Middle Ages, for | | | | were quickly elevated to hero status, and soon |
| they had become associated with witches and the | | | | became protected by law. |
| Devil; some people believed black cats were witches | | | | The Great Plague ended when the fleas started |
| in disguise, or that they assisted witches in | | | | dying, as a part of their natural life cycle, in the cold |
| performing their craft. Those who kept cats as pets | | | | of fall and winter. Subsequent plagues would visit |
| were the objects of much suspicion, and widespread | | | | Europe over successive generations, and other |
| cat hunting led almost to their extinction. | | | | continents suffered similar outbreaks; it would not be |
| When rats from Asia brought the bubonic plague to | | | | until the 19th century that scientists really began to |
| Europe via trading ships in the mid-1300s, the | | | | understand the epidemiology of the plague. Increased |
| epidemic (variously known as the Black Plague, the | | | | sanitary conditions over time helped reduce its |
| Great Plague, the Black Death, and the Great | | | | incidence, and with the discovery of antibiotics in the |
| Mortality) swept across the continent, resulting in | | | | 20th century, the threat of the plague was greatly |
| devastating loss of human life. In all, one-third of the | | | | reduced. |
| population of Europe--some 34 million people--died. In | | | | Would it be a stretch to say that, by bringing the |
| England alone, more than half the human population | | | | rodent population under control, cats saved humans |
| perished; in some parts of France, ninety percent. | | | | from extinction? At least, European humans? At a |
| It took the authorities some time to figure out the | | | | minimum, cats deserve credit for heroically saving the |
| cause of the problem. At one point they tested the | | | | species that, through ignorance, almost wiped them |
| theory that the disease was being spread by dogs | | | | out. |
| and cats; thus the mayor of London ordered the | | | | (C)Lisa J. |
| execution of all such pets. Despite the extermination | | | | |