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Puss Gets Booted from Loutit LibraryThe board of the Loutit District Library in Grand Haven, Michigan, made a difficult decision August 14 when it voted 4–2, with two abstentions, to keep Madeline the cat away from the library where it had lived for the past two years. Residents packed the small room where the board met, some passionately advocating the cat’s return and others resolutely demanding its ouster. Madeline had been removed from the library in late July after patrons had complained of allergies. “A cat may be entertaining, but we are not a zoo—we are a library,” board member Eileen Hutton said in the August 17 Muskegon Chronicle. “It isn’t something we intended to be an explosive issue,” said Kathy Fuller, one of the township residents whose children are allergic to cats. “I’ve had to take my children to the hospital for allergic reactions. I promise anyone who was upset [about removing the cat] never had to take their children to the hospital.” Other patrons, however, said the calico kitty was the reason many children visited the library. Some children who didn’t read aloud to people would read to the cat. Madeline is now staying in the home of one of the librarians. Posted August 20, 2001. |
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