Jean Mill
| Jean Mill | |||
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| File:Jean Mill with a Bengal.jpegFile:Jean_Mill_with_a_Bengal.jpeg Mill posing with a Bengal cat | |||
| Born | Jean Sugden May 14, 1926 Des Moines Iowa United States | ||
| 💀Died | June 6, 2018 (aged 92) CaliforniaJune 6, 2018 (aged 92) | ||
| 🏫 Education |
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| 💼 Occupation |
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| 📆 Years active | 1948–2018
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Jean Mill (May 11, 1926 – June 7, 2018) was cat breeder, and a conservationist who worked to protect the Asian leopard cat. Mill is best know as the founder of the modern Bengal cat breed: Mill successfully crossed the wild Asian leopard cat with a domestic cat, and then backcrossed the offspring through five generations to create the domestic Bengal. Mill made contributions in two other cat breeds: the Himalayan and the standardized version of the Egyptian Mau.[1] Jean and her first husband Robert Sugden were involved in a precedent-setting case about the United States government's power to monitor short wave radio communications. Jean Mill has also authored two books.
Conservation efforts and breeding rationale
Jean Mill was very concerned about the hunting and poaching of the Asian Leopard cats to supply the fur trade. Mill has said that her desire to save the Asian Leopard cat led to the creation of the Bengal cat breed.
Himalayan cat contributions
In 1948, Jean Mill worked to develop the Himalayan cat, a longhaired breed of mixed Persian and Siamese ancestry.[3] Jean Mill said, "I pursued the dream, and was among the early contributors to the Himalayan breed. I gave a presentation to the ACFA board in March of l965 in Texas asking that they be recognized, but the board was half Persian breeders, the other half Siamese breeders, none of whom liked the idea of mixing the two! When the Himalayans lost their challenge, it was time to move on." Jean Mill"[4]
Creating the Bengal breed
There were many other breeders involved in developing the Bengal breed, most notably Pat Warren, William Engle and Willard Centerwall. Jean Mill is considered the originator of the breed because she created a domestic Bengal past the F4 generation, and then tirelessly promoted the new breed.[5]
1960s: Mill's first hybrid cat
While living in Yuma Arizona in 1963, Mill (Jean Sugden) made the first recorded deliberate cross of a domestic tomcat with a wild Asian leopard cat.[6] The leopard cat Mill used was a spotted five to twelve pound shy wild cat species from Asia. Jean Sudgen purchased a female Asian Leopard cat (named Malaysia) from a pet store in 1961. She put a black domestic tomcat in her cage. The animals mated and produced two kittens, a male and a female called KinKin.[5] This was the first effort to use hybrid offspring to create a breed of domestic cat with the loving nature of a favored fireside tabby and the striking look associated with Leopards, Ocelots and Jaguars.[7]
1970s
In 1970 Mill resumed her breeding efforts and in 1975 she received of a group of Bengal cats which had been bred for use in genetic testing at Loyola University by Dr. Willard Centerwall. In the 1970's Dr. Willard R. Centerwall, professor of pediatrics and director of genetics services at Loma Linda University, conducted genetic research with the offspring of the Asian leopard cat (Fells bengalensis) and the American domestic cat (Felis calus). The Asian leopard cat does not have the feline leukemia virus built into its system, scientists in cancer research were interested in what happens to the leukemia genome in the offsprings of the leopard cat and the domestic cat.[8] When Dr. Centerwall concluded his studies he gifted the cats from the study to Jean Mill. Eventually, these same hybrids were instrumental in the Bengal breed's development. Through a mutual contact, Dr. Centerwall and Jean Sugden Mill met in 1980. Centerwall had several F1 kittens needing homes and he gave them to Jean Mill.[9]
1982 Spotted domestic cats from India
In 1982 Mill found a spotted domestic cat in a pound. And then on a trip to India in 1982, she saw another spotted domestic cat "running around the rhinoceros compound" in a zoo. "He was an orange cat with little spots all over him," Mill said. "He was so unusual, I asked [the zookeepers] to catch him for me The pound cat (Finally Found) and the Indian street urchin (Millwood Toby of Delhi) were bred with the lab cats, and the Bengal cat line began to form.[10]The curator of the New Delhi Zoo also gave Mill the sister of the cat in the rhinoceros cage which Mill named Tasha of New Delhi. These two Indian domestic cats Toby and Tasha contributed greatly to the Bengal breed[11]
Egyptian Mau breeding
Mill registered Millwood Tory of Delhi as an Egyptian Mau. Mill also imported other Egyptian Mau kittens from India. Mill also needed males to stud the F1 and F2 kittens resulting from the Asian Leopard cat since hybrid males are often sterile. Mill also used Egyptian Maus to raise her F1 Bengal kittens. Several Egyptian Mau breeders, used Millwood Tory of Delhi 'Indian Mau' genes to improve upon the weak, inbred, poor tempered, poor producing bloodlines. In 1985 Jean Mill's Egyptian Mau line was retracted by the CFA. Eventually they all reinstated and the bloodline is now used extensively in modern Egyptian Maus.[4]
Bengal cat breeding resumed
Mill combined her spotted domestic cats with the Centerwall cats and with that Mill was able to restart her Bengal breeding program: where others breeders had failed to get the Bengal breed established because of the sterility of the F1,F2, F3, and F4 early generation Bengals, Jean Mill succeeded. Mill successfully backcrossed Bengals until she achieved the F5 Bengal with a domestic cat temperament. The modern Bengal breed traces to cats bred by Jean Mill in the early 1980's.[12][3] Others also began breeding Bengals – and in 1986 The International Cat Association (TICA) accepted the Bengal cat as a new breed: Bengals gained championship status in 1991.[13] Where other early Bengal breeders Like William Engle only succeeded in creating a sterile hybrid, Jean Mill succeeded in creating a Domestic Bengal cat.[14]
Jean Mill's cattery was called Millwood.
Education
Jean Mill earned a degree from Pomona College in psychology in 1945. Mill attended graduate classes in genetics at UC Davis in 1946. At U.C. Davis Mill wrote a term paper which proposed crossing the popular Persian breed of cat with the new Siamese breed to make 'Panda Bear' cats.[3]
Personal life
Jean Mill was born May 14, 1926 in Des Moines. Mill moved to California to attend college and by 1948 was one of three breeders working to develop the Himalayan cat, a longhaired breed of mixed Persian and Siamese ancestry.[3]
Jean Mill married a wealthy rancher and cotton farmer named Robert Sugden and moved to his ranch in Yuma, Arizona.[15] When he died in 1965, she move into an apartment and put her conservation/breeding efforts on hold. Robert and Jean Sugden had a daughter October 15, 1948, they named her Judy.
United States of American v. Robert V. H. Sugden and Jean S. Sugden
On October 7, 1953, Jean Mill and her first husband Robert Sugden were both indicted for conspiracy to violate the immigration laws. The main government evidence was obtained by listening to the Sugdens' shortwave radio communications. The U.S. Government alleged that the Sugdens used shortwave radio broadcasts to warn their foremen to hide their illegal-alien workers. The Federal Communications Commission suspended the Sugdens' Radio Telephone Operating permit.[16] Robert Sugden alone was indicted for concealing and shielding illegal entrants into the United States from detection. The charges revolved around allegations of employing Mexican nationals...It is alleged that the Sugdens took various steps to hide the illegal entrants and avoid being caught with them in their employ."[17] Judge Ling dismissed the charges in the spring of 1954 because the case Judge determined that short wave radio evidence was not obtained legally. The Government then appealed the dismissal of evidence to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since they had merely monitored short wave radio broadcasts of the Sugdens (not wiretapped).[18] In 1955 the United States was able to win their appeal to get the short wave radio evidence admitted in the case against the Sugdens.[19] The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that because the Sugdens were not licensed to operate the short wave radio at the time of the broadcasts; the FCC may make full disclosure to the Immigration service .[20]
Jean Mill got married a second time to John Krummel and together they lived in Pasadena, California until they divorced.
In 1975, Mill married engineer Robert J. Mill March 1, 1978 in Los Angeles County, California, and moved to his one-acre horse property in Covina Hills, California.[3] Jean Mill and Bob Mill continued to live in California and they bred Bengal cats under the name Millwood. Bob Mill died September 21, 1999.
Death and legacy
Jean Mill died Mill died June 6, 2018. Her conservation efforts are part of her legacy. Jean Mill created a domestic Bengal cat with markings like a leopard and the temperament of a house cat in order to protect wild cats from overhunting. It is unknown what impact the Jean Mill's Bengal cat breed had on the fur industry. It is known that fur fell out of fashion in the United States. "More than 60% of Americans find killing animals for fur amounts to cruelty, according to an Angus Reid survey."[21]
As of 2019, Bengal breeders number in the thousands. Jean Mill got the Bengal cat accepted into TICA in 1986. Since that time Bengals have been accepted into all of the cat registries: CFA, FIFe, WCF, ACF, ACFA/CAA, QCCF, and New Zealand Cat Fancy (NZCF).
Jean Mill also inspired her daughter Judy Sugden to create a new cat breed, the Toyger.[22]
Books
- Mill, Jean S. (1999) [1997]. Guide to Owning a Bengal Cat. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Facts on File, Incorporated, Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 9780791054598. Search this book on
- Breeding Better Bengals: Facts and Fallacies (1999)
References
- ↑ Hallépée, Didier (2011). The Egyptian Mau cat. Italy: Carrefour du Net Fondcombe. p. 35. Retrieved March 9, 2019. Search this book on
- ↑ Robbins, Nancy (1 February 2013). Domestic Cats: Their History, Breeds and Other Facts. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. p. 117. ISBN 9781300695424. Retrieved 9 March 2019. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Hamilton, Denise (March 10, 1994). "A Little Cat Feat: A Covina woman's efforts at cross-breeding wild and domestic felines are paying off handsomely". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mill, Jean S. "Milestones at Millwood". Millwood Bengals. Jean Mill. Archived from the original on May 23, 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jean S., Mill (1998). Guide to Owning a Bengal Cat. Neptune City, NJ: TFH Publications. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-7938-4663-4. Search this book on
- ↑ Jones, Joyce (September 20, 1992). "The Pet Cat That Evokes the Leopard". The New York Times. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- ↑ "Bengal Breed". TICA. The International Cat Association. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Leukemia Hereditary Factors Under Probe By Researcher". the Desert Sun. Palm Springs. Calif. –. April 19, 1977. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
- ↑ "BENGAL CAT ORIGINS". Bengals Illustrated. Award Winning Publications. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
- ↑ McEnroe, Collin (June 28, 1993). "WILD THING? NO, BENGAL'S A SWEET CAT". Hartford Courant. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
- ↑ Hallépée, Didier (2011). The Egyptian Mau cat. Italy: Carrefour du Net Fondcombe. p. 35. Retrieved March 9, 2019. Search this book on
- ↑ "About the Bengal". CFA. The Cat Fanciers' Association, Inc.,. Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Bengal Breed". TICA. The International Cat Association. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
- ↑ Barrington, Kate. "A Detailed History of the Bengal Cat Breed". Bengal Cats. Bengal Cats. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
- ↑ "Wealthy Arizonan Faces Charge". Hamilton Journal – The Daily News (67). October 8, 1953. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ↑ "National Archives Federal Register of the United States" (PDF). Gov Info. U.S. Government. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ↑ "United States of America, Appellant, v. Robert v. H. Sugden and Jean S. Sugden, Appellees, 226 F.2d 281 (9th Cir. 1955)". Justia. Justia. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
- ↑ "Appeal Sugden Decision" (70). The Morning Sun. July 3, 1954. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
- ↑ "Circuit court allows Sugden Case Evidence". Yuma Sun (1). The Sunday Sun. October 2, 1955. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ↑ "United States v. Robert v. H. Sugden and Jean S. Sugden, 226 F.2d 281 (9th Cir. 1955) Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit". Court Listener. Free Law Project. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ↑ FERAL, PRISCILLA. "Torture goes out of fashion: Momentum builds for a ban on NYC fur sales". Daily News. New York: New York Daily News Inc. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
- ↑ Miller, Kenneth (February 23, 2007). "Hello, Kitty: Inside the making of America's next great cat". The Pantagraph. p. 77. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
Further reading
- Richardson, Steve (2015). Bengal Cats. Bengal Cat Owners Manual. Guide to Owning a Happy Bengal Cat (Illustrated ed.). Amazon Digital Services LLC, Kdp Print Us. ISBN 1910617555. ISBN 9781910617557. Search this book on
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