Waste crisis due to laughing gas and NAC’s impending relegation: you missed this

From NAC’s impending relegation drama to waste managers who are bothered by nitrous oxide cylinders. A lot happened again this Saturday. These are the five stories you must read.

Jos found a dead fawn on the roadside and forest ranger Frans Kapteijns suspects that disturbance by stray dogs is the cause of the early delivery. The doe normally does not have young until late May or early June, but stress from dogs, too much human activity or food scarcity can lead to premature births. Frans therefore emphasizes: always keep dogs on a leash in nature reserves, especially between December and July. Read his analysis here.

After weeks of investigation, the municipality of Best still cannot confirm whether a controversial puppy trader has the correct permits. Affected buyers report that they have been misled: puppies were covered in fleas, infected with parasites and sometimes seriously ill. Research shows that the breeder breeds an estimated hundreds of dogs every year, but a permit for dog farming is nowhere to be found. You can read the whole story here.

Roland Vermeulen from the cleaning department in Breda has his hands full with dumped nitrous oxide cylinders. In Breda alone, 8,757 cylinders were found outdoors last year. Because the bottles come illegally from Eastern Europe, they cannot be handed in legally anywhere and end up in bushes, containers or ditches. Laughing gas is 265 times more harmful to the ozone layer than CO2, so Hendrik Post of Strukton Milieutechniek developed a machine to safely decompose the cylinders. Read his story here.

There is also sports news. NAC Breda is heading for relegation and according to three club icons the problem lies with changing lineups, lack of commitment and too few goals. Anthony Lurling puts it bluntly: ‘If NAC is relegated, not many players will lose sleep over it.’ Robert Maaskant points to the trainer and Henrico Drost sees tension in the team. With six games to go, NAC is in a direct relegation spot. You can read their analysis here.

Finally, a sweet bit of history. The Red Band licorice factory in Roosendaal will celebrate its centenary in two years. Founded in 1928 by Teunis Overwater, the company even survived a British bombardment in 1944. The factory was rebuilt in no time and grew into a household name with wine gums, coins and the legendary stop cough. After various takeovers, the factory on Spoorstraat is still running. Read the sweet past here.