History of the Police Activities League. The P.A.L. started with a bang -- a rock through a window, to be more precise. A youth gang in New York City, harassing storekeepers and generally making life miserable in the neighborhood, caused the problem that pioneered the concept of the Police Athletic League. Lieutenant Ed Flynn of the New York Police Departmentâs Crime Prevention Bureau liked kids.
The red and tortoiseshell colors were introduced into the breed in the 1930s by crossing purebred Siamese with red tabby or tortoiseshell British Shorthair cats carrying orange (O) genes. The Red Point Siamese cat family merits a page of its own, and includes Red, Cream, and Apricot Points.
Domestic shorthairs come in every variety of cat color, with the exception of the Siamese's solid body color with darker shades of that hue on the face, tail and legs. Perhaps the most common DSH coloring is a tabby variation. Tabbies have various colors blended together in the coat, along with various markings.