A cat rests on a windowsill next to the gate of the former Nazi camp of Auschwitz in Oswiecim January 27, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Kacper Pempel
Posted on 02/11/2010 6:37:07 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Claws bared in row over shelter for Auschwitz cat
OSWIECIM, Poland (Reuters Life!) - A cat living at the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz has caused fur to fly between an animal care group and Polish authorities refusing to allow a shelter to be built for it.
The grey and white cat, known variously as Rudolf or Bruno despite being female, can often be seen sitting near the notorious "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work sets you free") sign at the entrance to the camp.
She has seemed unperturbed by an unusually cold winter in Poland that has seen night temperatures dip as low as minus 34 Celsius (minus 29 Fahrenheit).
The museum that runs the camp has rejected a call from the group For Animals to build a cat shelter, saying other animals also live at the site and that visitors are its main priority.
"All we asked for was to erect a shelter, but we were refused," said Joanna Zaremba of the For Animals foundation.
A museum employee tried in vain to give the animal a home.
"The cat was not used to being indoors and the employee had to let her out to feel free. She came straight back (to the camp) like a boomerang, back to the 'Arbeit macht frei' gate," said Adam Cyra, another member of staff.
The cat is believed to have arrived at the camp about six months ago and started to attract the attention of visitors after Polish newspapers and websites reported on the animal's attachment to the site and the campaign to build a shelter.
"I came especially to see this cat as I've heard so much about it in the local media," one Polish visitor told Reuters Television. "I'm ready to adopt the cat and give her a home."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
A cat rests on a windowsill next to the gate of the former Nazi camp of Auschwitz in Oswiecim January 27, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Kacper Pempel
It’s a half-wild “barn cat”. It won’t use a shelter.
She don’t need no pampering.
ping
She probably knows where all the warmer places are when she tires of keeping watch.
Remarkable thing is that she doesn’t look in the least Jewish.
Grumpy kitty is grumpy.
I bet she does. She also probably knows where to mooch scraps. Kitty looks pretty healthy.
My sister lives in Minnesota and has 3 outdoor cats. As everyone knows the winters in Minnesota are brutal. She has a doghouse with heated blankets in it for the cats and she feeds them warm food every day. They also sleep in a basement window well where the warm air from the house seeps out through the window.
Buy it a plastic igloo cat shelter. If it uses it then put it away in the spring. If it doesn’t then donate it to an animal shelter. This is kind of strange. Cats are different.
Hey wasn’t there a story about the sign was stolen a while back? Did they recover it?
Are they going to catch all the other wild animals and put them in a shelter also? Idiots.
Kitler!
Best shelter is a large plastic storage bin with lid tied on and a hole cut in the top at one end then the thing laid on its side. I have the porch furniture cushions in the one I made for the two porch cats that have adopted me.
I thought that sign was stolen. Did they find it and bring it back?
“Rudolf”. As in Hoess? “Bruno” as in Strechenbach?
Now...about this story...They need to find a place to build that cat a shelter and make sure she has food and water daily.
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