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What was meant to be a cautionary note was misinterpreted. Video clips and news reports started claiming that cats transmit potentially deadly infections to humans, and that cat-borne diseases can cause miscarriages among women.Days later, the region’s animal husbandry department issued a statement saying there’s no harm in keeping cats as pets as long as proper hygiene is maintained.

Doctors and medical staff attend to a sick and injured pet cat inside Kashmir veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)Doctors and medical staff attend to a sick and injured pet cat inside Kashmir veterinary hospital in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)But the statement did little to calm pet owners in Kashmir, where cats have been long revered in Islamic folklore for their cleanliness and considered noble and intelligent creatures.

Mir Mubashir, a local businessman who lives on the outskirts of Srinagar, the region’s main city, said the posts and reports made him worried. His heart heavy, he took Liger, his Persian kitty, to her vet to make sure she was fine.“I felt really scared,” he said. Only after the vet’s assurances that all was well did he calm down.

A Kashmiri family eats dinner with their pet cats sitting beside them inside in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

A Kashmiri family eats dinner with their pet cats sitting beside them inside in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025 (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)Others warn that the overhaul could open the judiciary to questionable judges and allow organized crime to further influence Mexico’s justice system.

A number of candidates have raised eyebrows. Chief among them is, a former lawyer for drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, who is running to be a criminal court judge in the northern border state of Chihuahua.

Critics “speak out of ignorance because whether or not I’ve represented some person doesn’t transform you into that person,” she told the AP as she handed out campaign flyers to people crossing the border from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso, Texas.“What I can promise you is I’ll be an impartial judge,” she told some voters.