Fur-ever home: New declaration gives 19 feral cats free reign in Mexico's presidential palace | 7 April 2024 | They prowl through palace gardens stalking pigeons and make cameos on televised press briefings. Some greet tourists at the doors, while others take a sneaky lick of ice cream from staff. Nineteen feral cats have free rein of Mexico's National Palace, long roaming the lush gardens and historic colonial halls of the most iconic buildings in the country. Now, the palace cats have made hiss-tory after the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared them to be "living fixed assets," the first animals in Mexico to receive the title. López Obrador's government has obligated the country's Treasury to give them food and care for them for the rest of their lives, even after the leader leaves office in October. "The cats are now a symbol of the National Palace. Just as we understand this world, I wouldn't understand the National Palace without the presence of these cats," said Adriana Castillo Román, general director of the National Palace and Cultural Heritage Conservancy. "We have to make sure the cats are taken care of."