Dogs and cats in ancient Judaism

IN TABLET MAGAZINE: Are Jews a Dog People or a Cat People? Yet another difficult internal and ancient debate that modern Jews are unlikely to resolve (Joshua Schwartz). The headline is broader in scope than the article, which deals with dogs and cats in biblical to Talmudic times. It concludes:

What seems clear is that the Jewish attitude toward both dog and cat is ambivalent. A basically negative attitude to dogs in biblical times underwent some rehabilitation after changes in the non-Jewish world helped the dog become popular due to their increased use and functionality, though Jews were not enamored with their dogs and never forgot that there could be both good dogs and bad dogs: The good dog was treated well and respected and perhaps even occasionally loved. The relationship to the cat was almost entirely functional. Few people liked them, even if they liked vermin less.

A very interesting article from which I learned a lot. The most disturbing new fact I learned was that there were people in antiquity who walked their cats on leashes. I had thought that was a modern weird thing.