Dr. Henry L. Hirscher, Dog & Cat Hospital, 1932. In 1939 a wealthy New York woman named Louise Baier passed away and left her former alley cat, Tommy, a trust fund of $5000. Dr. Henry Hirscher was the cat's veterinarian and was entrusted with his care. When the doctor requested a payment of $2 a day for the cat's housing and care, the executors of the estate refused and the case went to court. A judge ruled that the bequest to the cat was illegal. Dr. Hirscher, who had also been left a sum of money in the woman's will, decided to keep the cat despite it no longer having its own trust fund.