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Posted by Jennifer Copley Jun 29, 2008 |
The first known use of cats in warfare occurred in Ancient Egypt. Aware of the Egyptian reverence for felines, Persian soldiers carried cats into battle. The Egyptian army surrendered rather than risk hurting the cats. Cats were again used to gain advantage during the 1500s when the German army strapped cans of poisonous gas to their backs and set them loose across enemy lines.
During WWII, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the CIA) came up with the ludicrous idea of attaching cats to bombs and dropping them near Nazi ships. They assumed that because cats hated water, they would find a way to drag themselves up onto the ships’ decks, somehow bringing the bombs with them. However, attempts to implement the plan met with failure when the cats became unconscious in midair.
The CIA later came up with the equally ridiculous idea of turning a cat into a walking recording device during the Cold War in the hope of overhearing communist plots. This project, called Acoustic Kitty, involved surgically implanting batteries in a cat and using its tail as an antenna. After spending five years and nearly $20 million on the project, the CIA brought Acoustic Kitty to a park and put him out to do some spying. Unfortunately, he was run over by a taxi within moments of leaving the vehicle, and the CIA operatives were left sitting in a van filled with expensive electronics and no cat, effectively bringing the project to an end.
Cats aren’t the only animals that have been used in warfare. Dolphins, horses, sea lions, whales, dogs, bats, snakes, scorpions, rats, pigs, elephants and other unfortunate animals have also been pressed into service. Thankfully, cats have recently been put to a more positive and humane use assisting landmine-detecting rats.