Thursday Open Line

“Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this.” That anonymous quotation overlooks the condition of plenty of Americans, who still venerate cats. For such folks, and also the former deities, today is National Cat Day. For the less observant, there’s always the Internet, which cats seem to dominate. There are about 74 million such honored animals in the U.S., slightly outnumbering dogs, their supposed rivals. Tributes to domestic cats are made through some of the $430 million per year spent on pet grooming services, and America’s 8,900 pet and pet supply stores. Such establishments employ over 104,000 people in a nearly $15 billion a year business. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.