holland – Michael Broad

Cats with folded ears and flat-faced dogs to be banned in The Netherlands

January 20, 2023 by Michael Broad

Flat-faced dogs and cats with folded ears to be banned in NL

This news lightens my heart made heavy by legalised animal abuse. We all know that flat-faced dogs (and cats) and cats with folded ears (the Scottish Fold) are inherently unhealthy. We have known it for a long time. Their existence is a reflection of the attitude that cuteness trumps ill-health. That appearance is more …

Cat survived in house for 52 days by eating paper

August 30, 2021 by Michael Broad

Finn, the tabby cat who is said to have survived for 52 days on paper and a leaky tap

NEWS AND COMMENT – THE NETHERLANDS: An extraordinary feline feat of survival has popped up in the news media. A Dutch tabby cat was trapped in a house when the owner left it on July 1, 2021. Police are looking for the person who could (should) be charged with animal cruelty. We don’t know …

Another nail in the coffin of free-roaming domestic cats?

September 19, 2020 by Michael Broad

NEWS AND ANALYSIS: if you read the online news media on the subject of cats as I have over more than a decade you have to notice a very gradual trend towards domestic cat confinement to protect wildlife. Attitudes are changing. There’s no doubt about this trend which has been accelerated by the public’s …

Pictorial history of De Poezenboot (the Catboat)

April 4, 2020April 3, 2020 by Michael Broad

The Catboat of Amsterdam – De Poezenboot – is world famous. It might be the best known cat rescue anywhere. The setting is magical and it quickly became a tourist attraction which helped to bring in much needed funds. Here is a short pictorial history in the form of a large collage. I have …

The Dutch have become cruel to cats

August 12, 2018 by Michael Broad

The headline is “1,000 feral cats shot in the Netherlands as more provinces consider a cull”. Over three and a half years about 1,000 feral cats have been shot in the provinces of Utrecht and Friesland in the Netherlands. These are the only two provinces where the shooting of cats is allowed. However, Zeeland …

Train Stopped For Cat On Tracks

June 24, 2018 by Michael Broad

Cat stopped train and conductor picked her up from tracks

Netherlands (Mid May, 2015): A train travelling from Utrecht to The Hague made an emergency stop for a cat on the tracks. The passengers had no idea what was going on until the conductor returned from collecting a kitten from the tracks. She was poorly. It is thought she had been hit by another …

Three Dutch tabby kittens travel to the UK in the engine compartment of a car

September 16, 2017 by Michael Broad

Cute rescue kittens found in car compartment

This must be the ultimate cat-trapped-in-car-engine-compartment story. You know how cats like to crawl into the engine compartment of a car to keep warm and sometimes they are injured. Well, in this instance three tabby kittens living in Holland climbed into the engine compartment of a car belonging to Christian Lampkin from Ashford in …

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