‘Terror cat’ banned from street

27 November 2003

AMSTERDAM — For a cat accustomed to ruling the roost in the great life outdoors, it would be almost unthinkable to force it to stay inside all day, everyday, but that is exactly what the municipality of De Ronde Venen has done.

The cat in question lives in the town of Mijdrecht, near Utrecht, and has been banned from roaming the streets for the past two weeks on order from the council. He may only leave his owner’s house on a leash.

The council took the decision because the cat — who will be known hereafter as Zino — has terrorised the municipality for the past two years. Guilty of catching fish and killing birds, residents claim the four-year-old Abyssinian is not the average cat.

One of plaintiffs, a female neighbour of Zino — known hereafter as S. Bordes — regularly complained to the council about the cat. “I had left the door to the garden open. Suddenly I heard an infernal racket. The beast had attacked my son’s parakeet,” she said.

Since then, the door has remained closed to fend off a repeat offence. “We don’t have any problem with the man next door, but this cat is a case apart”, she told newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported.

Zino is also allegedly guilty of peeing and pooing on neighbourhood driveways, but his owner — known hereafter as H. Hoevers — claims the street ban is exaggerated. Hoevers also said people continue complaining and the council has let itself to be used.

But the municipal spokesperson who laid down the law, C. Fisser, said it was clear that the cat had been a nuisance factor in the neighbourhood and various solutions were examined before the street ban was imposed.

Fisser said Zino may be allowed outside on a leash or let free in a cage in the garden, but cannot walk the streets unaccompanied.

The neighbourhood has appreciated the improved safety: “It is now much more peaceful,” Fisser said.

Case closed.

[© Novum Nieuws 2003]

Subject: Dutch news