Where is he now? Volunteers and visitors to the Griendtsveenpark, the small park between Schoonebeek and Erica, have quickly noticed in recent days that something is wrong. The striking and affectionate red cat that has been wandering around the park for years is suddenly nowhere to be seen. When camera images are examined, the conclusion is remarkable: the cat appears to have been kidnapped.
The Griendtsveen Park is a well-known place, especially for parents with young children. All kinds of animals roam around the pavilion: from sheep to chickens and rabbits to deer. While children are having fun in the playground, the animals are criss-crossing everywhere. This also applies to the red cat, a popular guest in the park. He always happily walks behind children and is willing to be cuddled. But when he can, he enjoys the sun. The same goes for Sunday.
When Alie Lieverink, neighbor of the Griendtsveenpark, and her husband had a bite to eat that afternoon around lunchtime, they saw a Mercedes driving down the street out of the corner of their eyes. It often happens that cars drive slowly past the park, but this time it is different than usual.
“The car stops and suddenly drives back slowly. It then stops again at the second entrance and does something there that we don’t see. The back door opens and closes again and then the car drives on. Quite strange,” says the husband of Alie.
They do not immediately think about it and continue with the order of the day. But when the red cat is conspicuously absent all day and is nowhere to be seen on Monday and Tuesday, Alie suddenly thinks back to that Mercedes.
The camera images from that Sunday afternoon are studied together with the park board and guess what? The driver took the beloved red cat with him in his car. Alie is indignant. “It’s part of the park, you stay away from it.”
Annie Hommes, board member of the Griendtsveenpark, is also left guessing after viewing the images: “Who would do something like that? I assume you can use your common sense. You don’t just take the neighbor’s cat with you, do you?” she says.
At first there is hope that the cat will walk back into the park from nowhere, but that turns out to be a vain hope. The board decides to call in the local police officer. He or she looks at the license plate on the camera images, looks up data in the database and thus determines the address at which the Mercedes is registered.
That same afternoon the local police officer comes with good news. At the address where he takes stock, the red cat appears to be happily waiting for his lifesaver.
According to the officer, the driver had no bad intentions. He allegedly took the cat with him because he thought it was a stray cat and the cold temperatures would not do the animal any good. According to the man, the cat followed him and sought a lot of attention. Annie breathes a sigh of relief: “That cat follows everyone,” she says, somewhat relieved.
But back to the Griendtsveen Park, that won’t be the case for a while. The cat’s owners, Hans and Willy Stemmer, are taking the animal back into their home for the time being. “She was once chased away by her own two kittens, who felt she was no longer welcome in the cat pack,” says Willy. The couple had never experienced that before. When Hans and Willy’s puppy also started barking, the red cat took off. She left for the couple’s ‘backyard’: Griendtsveenpark. “We tried to get her back, but if she doesn’t want to, then it won’t work,” says Willy. The voters are grateful for the time that the cat was allowed to stay in the Griendtsveenpark, but are happy that she is now back home.
The cat has now spent one night in Hans and Willy’s house and is starting to feel more and more at home. “She has just been through so much. Driving a car, staying in a strange house, having to sit in a carrier several times, that just scares the animal,” says Willy.
She is now being spoiled by the couple and can put on a few pounds again, Hans and Willy say with a smile.