Cats Have Their Own Office in Rome

We were walking in our Monteverde Vecchio neighborhood this spring when I said to Bill - "take a picture of that," and you can see his reflection in the door's glass as he shot this photo of what looked like an office for a national cat organization:  Ente Nazionale Felinotecnica Italiana or ENFI.

I loved the photo of the cat - someone will know the breed - and the idea that the cats had their own organization.I also liked the word "Felinotecnica" - which sounded to me like a technical feline.

A little research made the organization less mysterious  - it's the Italian National Purebred Cat Association.





The Web site indicates there may be some cat turf wars going on as well.  ENFI doesn't mention other organizations by name, but indicates that more than one organization can maintain a purebred cat geneology register, and that it is one officially sanctioned to do so.  ENFI got its recognition only a bit more than a year ago - so there's lots of pride going around here.




Then there's the whole issue of whether one should breed purebred cats. Especially given all the homeless cats in Rome and the efforts in various parts of Rome to take care of them, neuter and feed them. Our Swedish friend, Bo Lundine, wrote a post here on such a cat, the one-eyed Nelson.  Well, we won't get into that debate.




And so the lesson seems to be you never know what you'll find walking around a residential neighborhood in Rome.

Dianne