The management of the Hilton Hotel at Schiphol had expected “about thirty or forty pets” this year. But on New Year’s Eve it looks like a dog show here: dachshunds, Labradors, Australian Shepherdsgreyhounds, chihuahuas with silver shiny covers, rough ones rescue dogs from the streets of Thessaloniki and Bucharest. The guests receive special ‘welcome packages’: “You can choose one dog toy.”
The Hilton Hotel at Schiphol has a ‘pet-friendly policy. Dogs and cats are allowed, two pets per room. At Schiphol Airport, lighting fireworks is strictly prohibited and the rooms are so soundproof that you cannot hear Boeings and Airbuses taking off on the adjacent Buitenveldertbaan runway.
In short, a perfect place to escape the fireworks violence that swept across the Netherlands again this year – including in the 19 municipalities where the lighting of consumer fireworks was prohibited this year.
Hotel guest Sharon Buitendijk speaks scornfully about the Rotterdam fireworks ban. Last year she stayed home with her husband and Dexter – an eleven-year-old “trash can” who most resembles a Maltese. That was a bad experience, says Buitendijk. “Dexter is not afraid, but he starts barking at three o’clock in the afternoon. He has a heart problem. He’s too busy.”
Shaking and panting
A family with two daughters from Nijmegen is sitting on lounge chairs in the hall with Nanoo and Woody, two white lap dogs (breed: Coton de Tuléar) who are arguing over a chewing stick. Nanoo in particular is bothered by the fireworks, says youngest daughter Mea (9). “Then she shakes and pants and walks around all the time.” In recent days it has already exploded and Nanoo no longer wanted to eat, says Mea’s mother. The family has been looking forward to staying in this luxury hotel with sauna and hot tub: “If only we could get away for a night.”
One night of banging is still manageable, say the owners in the hall of the Hilton. But every year the cutting seems to start earlier. It has been going on in Almere for weeks, says Ronnie Kerkhoff. When he is walking with Nicci (a cross between a husky and a shepherd), they in Almere are not afraid to throw the strings his way. “I try to avoid it as much as possible,” says Kerkhoff. “Because if I get stressed, she gets stressed too.” Kerkhof – white cap on blue-dyed curls – had devoted his life to dancing, but after two years in the international top he became a bus driver: “I didn’t feel like having to beg for a job every time.”
Valentyn Bondarchuk and Ksenia Lavriënko have fled the war in Ukraine, but have the same dog as Russian President Putin: a huge Japanese Akita Inu. “I try not to think about that,” laughs Valentyn.
Greyhound in sweater
Damir Hadzic fought in three successive wars in the former Yugoslavia (“Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia”) and then worked as a development worker in Kenya and Afghanistan, among others. Not that the banging reminds him of the war, says Hadzic. “It’s just annoying, that noise. You Dutch say that fireworks are a tradition, but I have never seen a Rembrandt with fireworks being set off.”
Some dogs and cats here also have a story. The cream-colored Persian greyhound of Hadzic and his Polish partner Gosja Rabakon may be elegance itself in her mint green knitted sweater, but two years ago Hamayel was still roaming the streets of Dubai – discarded because she did not meet all the breed characteristics.
The black Irish greyhound Murphy (eight years old and already a bit gray around the long pointed muzzle) competed in ten professional races under his competition name Our boy Rexof which he won seven. Murphy had already earned about ten thousand euros in prize money, but then he got injured. “Those dogs reach a speed of around sixty kilometers per hour,” says his Austrian owner Roland Prieler. When Murphy was rejected from competitive sport, he was fortunate that the Greyhound in Need Foundation took care of him. “Otherwise they probably would have killed him.”
Too early from the nest
Pomeranian Jax, a fluffy ball with beady black eyes, prefers to sit on Anouk Hartgers’ lap. He was probably taken from the nest early, says Hartgers’ friend Bryan van Bentum. Careless children who pick it up unexpectedly can get a bite. “Luckily he didn’t bite through.”
Van Bentum is a real estate agent and Hartgers works in healthcare, but thanks to Jax (from ‘Ajax’) and their other dog Frenkie (named after the Barcelona playmaker), dogs are starting to become their profession. Hartgers makes stylish dog toys. Her hobby has gotten out of hand: ByJax toys are in stores from Amsterdam to Brussels. “We try to make the name as big as possible and make as many dogs happy as possible,” says Van Bentum, “and I get involved a bit with the financials…” “And deliver the packages,” adds Hartgers.
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Jax is coping well with the New Year, but Frenkie finds it exciting. However, the one who suffers the most in the family is Van Bentum himself. “I am very afraid of explosions, I completely panic. That’s why we’re always away on New Year’s Eve.”
