Cat up a tree? Fork out the money
Any cat in the small town of De Marne, Groningen that dares climb up a tree in the future will costs their owner a fistful of euro. Ask the friendly, local voluntary fire brigade to fetch kitty kat for you and they will charge you somewhere between 350 to 500 euro. I wonder what the difference in price entails. Tree height? Time? Cat cuteness?
Tjerk Elzinga, the local fire brigade commander says, “providing a service is something that is not part of our legal tasks. (…) There are companies specialised in that sort of thing and it would lead to unfair competition.” Either this man is enlightened and the rest of the country’s volunteer fire brigades should follow suit or he’s really, really annoyed with not having any fires to put out.
Local residents are divided on the issue, but everyone thinks 350 to 500 euro is a helluvalot to ask for a cat up a tree. The idea is that small, non life-threating situations like rescuing cats costs the fire brigade money, so they feel someone else should pay for it.
Dutch entrepreneurship in times of recession or just plain weird, you decide.
(Link: rtvnoord.nl, Photo (non lolcat version): arttherapyblog)
The fire brigade does not buy the equipment used to rescue kitty or pay their own salary, the taxpayers in town of De Marne, Groningen buy the ladders and trucks and pay salaries.
If the fire have too many fires to save kitties, then don’t save kitties but if firemen have free time then don’t charge to save kitties.
The silly thing is cats don’t need to be rescued from a tree. As they climbed the tree all by themselves they can get down as well. Some cats may find it a bit scary and they’ll meow a bit, but in the end hunger and boredom will motivate them enough to come down.
Unless of course someone (a deranged, cash-hungry fireman perhaps) actually put the cat in the tree…