Expanish Volunteer Blog
Here kitty, kitty, kitty…
If you are vacationing in, living in, or volunteering in Buenos Aires, there are some little feline friends in the city that could use your help.
In the beautiful and trendy neighbourhood of Palermo is a city owned park named the ‘Botanical Gardens,’ sometimes referred to as the ‘Parque Gato,’ meaning cat park. This lovely park that features long path ways, a greenhouse, ancient trees, statues, and fountains, is also home to several dozen stray cats that are roaming through the grass, gravel walkways, plants and brushes; an odd sight to say the least.
The Government has permitted these cats to stay here, or least they have not yet taken any action to take them out, and visitors to the park are free to feed the cats at their own will. The cats here are friendly, as far as anyone can tell, and love any attention they get from visitors walking through the park during the day.
There is no law in Argentina forcing people to spay or neuter their animals, dogs or cats, and for this reason there are so many unwanted pets, often unwanted and left behind. This cat park is a small but good example of what happens when this responsibility is ignored, and should be a lesson to all pet owners.
If you are in Buenos Aires and want to help, taking a bag of cat food, or several, to the park and leaving the food on the grass is a great way to keep these cats feed, especially during the winter months when they could use as much food (fat) to keep them warm. If you want to do more, there are volunteer placements in Buenos Aires that focus on animal welfare and they can always use volunteers!
