Q (2020) / Closed thoughts
door Rodney van den Beemd / Rodney van den Beemd en Jan Widdershoven
These are also difficult times for a floating animal sanctuary!
The world’s only floating pet shelter, the Cat Boat (Poezenboot) in Amsterdam has also experienced some challenging times as a result of the (partial) lockdown in the Netherlands. The Cat Boat serves as a pet shelter as well as an attraction, which generates a large part of the charity’s income. Very few cats were brought in during this period and more cats were adopted, particularly during April and May. An increasing number of people worked from home during the lockdown and this meant that people had more time and space for a new pet to keep them company. More people therefore visited the Cat Boat to adopt a cat. It was extremely quiet on the Cat Boat during the first wave and there were very few visitors. This resulted in reduced income, fewer donations, and no sales of souvenirs. The sudden quiet did not seem to have much effect on the cats’ behaviour, however.
The Cat Boat has so far managed to survive, despite the drop in income. They are trying to make up for this loss through initiatives such as collecting used paper. A market for certain collectable, cat-related items also provides some additional income. ‘At the moment, every little bit helps’, says Judith, the owner of the Cat Boat. You can donate using the following link: https://www.ing.nl/particulier/betaalverzoek/index.html?trxid=3iCO1Kh34Ch5fiC5OEfkVyZeCspZv11c
Visit https://depoezenboot.nl/ for more information about the Cat Boat!
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