Cats In New Homes After Spat With Headquarters, Cedar Falls Garden Store Says

Two garden store cats have found new homes after being kicked out of after a memo came down from the store's corporate headquarters.

Last week the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported on the fates of Steve and Ginny, the two felines. The Courier reported a memo was sent to all the chain's stores, forbidding pets on store property, due to another store that started a cat adoption service that was costing the company money, as well as liability concerns.

Do you have memories of the Earl May cats? What do you think of their eviction? Tell us in the comments.

Store employees, who did not give their names and said they had been directed by headquarters not to talk to the press about the issue, told Patch Monday one cat had been taken in by an employee and the other by a concerned customer.

Next to the register sat a petition to keep the cats in the store, filled with page after page of signatures. People have also expressed their distress with the policy on Earl May's Facebook page.

The cats, who had greeted customers and kept pests away from the store's bird seed, were mainstays of the garden supply store for years.

Earl May headquarters in Shenandoah did not immediately return a call asking for comment Monday afternoon.