In the ongoing negotiation between private conviction and public service, a New York City kitten rescue has drawn a contested line — declaring that political identity, specifically MAGA affiliation, disqualifies prospective adopters. Itty Bitty City Kitties, based in Rockaway Beach, argues that expressed values are inseparable from animal welfare; critics, including PETA, counter that ideology is a poor proxy for compassion, and that shelters exist to find animals homes, not to adjudicate politics. The dispute asks an old question in a new register: when does a mission become a barrier, and wh