Ghent (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Poezenboot construction team is designing 400 housing units to accommodate stray cats in Ghent. The buildings get support through wood supplier donations teamed up with school programs. These houses need to track the stray cat population and minimise kitten birth rates.
A Dutch organisation known as Poezenboot has built 400 wood-based cat shelters to assist stray cats in Ghent. This project aims to track wandering cats, establish protective shelter areas, and minimise the reproduction of kittens. This project operates alongside local schools, wood suppliers, and Ghent city institutions to establish wooden houses in existing stray cat habitats.
The Poezenboot has created multipurpose wooden cat shelters containing four compartments that both protect cats and allow tracking of stray populations. The city’s feed pass holders who feed stray cats will use their knowledge to locate ideal sites for positioning the houses. Through these houses, the staff can simplify the process of sterilization by delivering medication to the cats through their meal content.
De Grauwe is now coming up with a pilot project to also better monitor the stray cat problem.
“We have designed a cat house from wood with 4 compartments. We want to place them in locations where there are already many stray cats, or where people report stray cats.”
The Poezenboot is initially working with the woodworking students of Don Bosco Sint-Denijs. They will build 75 constructions, good for 300 houses.
“Timber merchants have already promised enough material to build another 25, so we can get to 400 houses.”
After the spring break, the trainee woodworkers will start the construction. The Poezenboot coordinates with the city where the houses will be built.
“Ghent works with feed pass holders who feed stray cats. They know exactly where the animals are staying. We will feed the houses in a targeted manner.”
“It is impossible to prevent stray cats from breeding. We hope that they will use the houses to give birth. This way we can sterilize the mother cats and get the kittens used to people. If a cat gives birth in the bushes, she will shield her young. The kittens are often too wild to socialize afterwards.”
The Poezenboot hopes that the project will be a success and that other volunteers and donors will come forward to roll it out further across Flanders.
“We are pleasantly surprised by the many positive reactions.”
What is the history behind the Poezenboot initiative in Ghent?
The Poezenboot initiative works to deal with Ghent’s increasing stray cat problem, where the official count of 168 unsterilised cats appears to be an underestimation. According to Poezenboot’s Ellie De Grauwe, “such a population can expand to more than 1,000 cats within the next short period.” Stray cats reproduce without inhibition, which creates excessive population growth and health concerns.
The Poezenboot joined forces with Ghent schools and timber suppliers to create 400 wooden shelters for homeless kittens. The shelters function as protected delivery locations which support both the sterilisation of mother cats and their social development. Ghent’s feed pass holders participate in the project by identifying areas where stray cat populations are most active.
