A closer look
Pope Gregory IX published a papal bull in the thirteenth century called Vox in Rama that officially linked domestic cats to Satan worship. This religious decree caused medieval European citizens to panic and slaughter felines en masse, which conveniently removed the primary predator of rats right before the bubonic plague swept through the continent. It serves as a brilliant historical reminder that blindly following panicked authority figures into ecological destruction usually backfires, especially when the consequence is millions of disease-carrying rodents avenging their furry little enemies with literal black death
