If it were up to more than sixteen hundred Purmerend residents, a stop would be made to the closure of Bram Bonhof’s dog shelter. The municipality of Purmerend wants to build a road through the forest strip where its Dogrun shelter is now located. The initiator of the petition Silvia Reid has been bringing her dog to Bram for more than fifteen years and absolutely does not want to see any change in this: “Bram must stay!”
Together with the news that no construction will take place in the Purmerbos, Bram received the bitter news that the municipality has planned a road where his company is now located. “The council’s wish to open up the access road to the golf course via the N244 will ultimately have consequences for the land we lease to you for the dog shelter,” he was told last week.
Nightmares
Bram says he has nightmares about it. He points: “I saw all kinds of bulldozers standing there in my dream.”
A little later, after he and the reporter have walked the dogs for a walk: “This place is everything to me. I am not only busy with the dogs, but also with birds. These trees have been here for thirty years. The idea The fact that they have to go hurts me. From the beginning I have been working here to maintain everything. Then it is a crazy idea that you will soon see a bulldozer and that all those trees will be cut down. Even in this day and age, that is weird.”
The fact that more than sixteen hundred people from Purmerend think the same gives him support. Silvia hopes for even more signatures and wants to do everything she can to change the municipality’s mind. Because where else should she go with her dog?
“There are not many other options in Purmerend, especially not to bring your dog all day. When we were still allowed to work from home a lot with corona, it was no problem and Bram had no dogs, but that is no longer the case.”
Powerless
Tomorrow, for the first time, a real conversation with the municipality about the issue is scheduled. He has no idea what he is going to hear and fears the worst. “It’s a powerless feeling. I also have my house, my children and my staff who are worried.”
The petition is through this link to find.