In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church branded cats as "ambassadors of the devil" and called for their mass extermination.

The virtual disappearance of felines from Europe was an important factor in propagating the Black Death, which killed 25 million people between 1347 and 1352.

The disease was spread by fleas that lived on rats, whose populations had soared in the absence of their natural predators.

Moral of the story, for you and me and all of us: Be careful whom you demonize.