FictionalCities :: Venice & Cats

Having mentioned the cats of Venice and the subject's many mysteries so often in my trip reports I thought that it would be good to bring these strands together in one place. Having not been to Venice since 1992 I was surprised on my 2002 visit to find that the large number of friendly strays living in many campi (sometimes in little makeshift wooden huts) and being fed foil dishes of pasta by old ladies had all disappeared, completely. The small garden in front of San Zaccaria, the Garibaldi Gardens, the wide canal-side area behind the Scuola Grande di San Rocco - all areas that seemed very empty without their resident tabbies. This seemed to me to be a somewhat tragic loss, as Venice was justly famous for it's cat population. And where had they gone? This top part of this page features photos I took in the early 90s, when the cats we many. Further down you'll find some more recent bulletins on the cats in Venice.



2005 A solution to the above mystery was supplied by site-friend, author and Venice resident Michelle Lovric who wrote to me in 2005 saying "There is an association called Dingo which has over the last ten years collected up most of the street cats and taken them away for sterilization and rehousing. For some time they were housed on the island of San Clemente, the old female lunatic asylum. I went to visit them there - it was amazingly well organised, with huge cages and an operating theatre for the cats. But then the island was sold (it is now a five star hotel) and the cats were deported to the Lido, where they now have a sanctuary. Some Venetian friends have told me that the cats were accused of causing diseases to Venice's few precious babies and small children." Here is a contemporary New York Times article about the ruckus at the time of the move from San Clemente to the Lido. 2006 This situation was confirmed and bemoaned by a multiple-cat-owning bookshop owner I got talking to on my 2006 visit who thought that the ecologists were misguided in this move, not the least in thereby leaving Venetian rats with no predators, this being the purpose for which the cats had first been introduced to Venice more than a thousand years ago. The bookshop - Libreria "Acqua Alta" di Frizzo Luigi (a.k.a. the Most Beautiful Bookshop in the World) in Calle Longa S. M. Formosa - is becoming something of common denominator amongst cat-obsessed Venice fans and bloggers.
Then in December 2006 came reports of new sanctuaries. Anne Atwell wrote to me of a discovery by the church of San Lorenzo in Castello on a winter trip. "I walked up to the front of the church and saw all of these little houses......it was a cat sanctuary! It was a cold morning, and I could see all these little faces inside staring at me. A couple of them came out to check me out, but most stayed in. The houses are nice and have pillows inside......there was a bowl of water and bunch of empty paper plates all over the steps of the church." She went back later with a box of cat biscuits and made 11 new friends. Yonnie, a non-furry friend of hers, took some photos (right). She also passes on reports of two more sanctuaries, one in the gardens close to Piazzale Roma as well as one in Cannaregio, reputedly somewhere between the Ospedale and Bacini vaporetto stops. There are also rumours of another one near the Greek church, on the way to the Schiavoni chapel. It seems that these new homes are being provided by Dingo, but as they don't seem to have a web site it's hard to check. Any further info would be appreciated, but I'll surely be having a scout round on my next visit, in March 2007.
2007 On my trip in March 2007 I found the San Lorenzo huts, looking a little less appealing than in the photo above, with fly-blown plates all around, and old fish heads, which was a bit unsavoury. Only two cats too, including the rolling-over tabby to the right. However passing through later in the week there was someone feeding and tidying up and more cats, so they still thrive, it seems. Didn't find any of the other little sanctuaries, though, but more wandering cats were spotted than in any recent years, especially up in Cannaregio, which is good news. And here's a link to a posting on Trip Advisor about the current state of Dingo and visiting the cat sanctuary.
Then in August 2007 I got an e-mail from Jan Waldron reporting on the San Lorenzo colony. She wrote: Last weekend I stayed in an apartment right next to the church on the square and can report that the cat colony is currently up to 20 cats, although around 6 hang out there during the day time. Including the cats pictured on your site - I counted 20 late at night, including the big tabby tom. A lady came at about 9am and put cat food down on paper plates and there were bowls of water (one of which was in the doorway to the building half way along on the right hand side (a school?). They all looked relatively healthy, but were very wary of people in general. They're still using the little wooden house, which still seemed quite weather-proof thankfully. I was glad to see that the locals are looking out for the cats. She also sent some photos, of the sanctuary (right) and some other local residents (below). Is the cat peering down from the wall the same cat as the rolling-over tabby tom in my photo above?

My trip in October 2007 added nothing to the store of knowledge, but I took some nice photos. I can report, though, that the campo in front of San Lorenzo is now totally free of diggings and hoardings. I'd tried to make contact with Dingo before I went but their e-mail address failed.
Two winter trippers provided reports and photos in December 2007. Annie Atwell, who wrote last in December 2006, says that she... Found another small Dingo house (right) in the public gardens close to Piazzale Roma with one beautiful grey cat. Bought a Dingo 2008 Calendar at the pet store in Campo Santi Apostoli; it has a website address on it (dingovenezia.org) that doesn't seem to go anywhere (but see March 2008 below). Fed the San Lorenzo cats a couple of times...there were nine the first time and ten the second, and there was a little dog hanging out with them chasing pigeons. Looked for the rumoured house close to Celestia and saw cats but could not find the house! And Gail Woodcock writes too: An update for you on the cats at San Lorenzo in Venice which I fortuitously came across when I was there last week and took the attached photo collage (right). The cats looked quite fat and healthy and did not mind me taking their pictures, especially the white one with black spots - he first peered at me from the comfort of his wooden hatch in his comfortable bed, then came out and went over to the cardboard box homes where he posed there for me beside and on top of one. It was about 10.30am, no sign of food but there was a big bowl of water beside the hatches.
2008 March 2008 brings an e-mail from Thomas Grones with the news that Dingo have a new web-site www.dingovenezia.it (and it works!) and that an English version is coming soon. Lucky old Gail Woodcock was in Venice again in April 2008 and writes to say: I have just returned from a few days visit to Venice and thought you would welcome an update on the cats at San Lorenzo. They were all looking reasonably well, fit and active except for the black cat without the white smudge under its chin. It seemed to have a gammy eye but otherwise it did not seem too bad. Rather than drinking the water in the blue bowl provided for them, they seemed happier drinking the rain water that had collected on the tarpaulin covering their 'home'. There was no sign of any food being left for them, but there were plenty of fat pigeons at the bridge end of the Campo feeding on bread rolls, so I guess the cats could partake of an occasional pigeon if need be. And who's to know where the rats and mice hang out locally? By the way, the green patch to one side of their home is green with grass and weeds as all the cats seem to use it 'in lieu of pussy litter'. She also attaches one of her sweet collages (right). In April 2008 I made contact with Dingo! An e-mail to the new address got me a reply, and confirmation that the English version of the site, with a Paypal donations option, is coming soon. They also sent me a Word document in English setting out their work, which you can open by clicking here. In October 2008 I visited Venice myself. My visit to the San Lorenzo colony was somewhat curtailed by a stupid woman who brought her stupid aggressive little dog, which wasn't on a lead, to chase the cats (including the worse-for-wear tabby favouring his right back leg, pictured right) despite her shouting at it. I spotted (and stroked) a few (presumably non-feral) cats around the campos, but not as many as in previous years, although the weather was colder. In a neighbourhood food shop, buying a cake, I noticed some lost-cat posters on the counter and asked the owner about them. He said that more pet cats than ever were disappearing. He was a firm believer in the Chinese restaurant theory saying that cats, and small dogs, were being stolen to appear on menus in the city. I've heard this one before, as an explanation for the disappearance of the feral cats, but have always put it down to prejudice and/or a taste for melodrama, but he was adamant, saying that the cats can hardly run away from an island criss-crossed by canals, or be run over by a car. I'm still not so sure, if only because Venice has so few Chinese restaurants and anti-Chinese racism, even in the mainstream press, is sadly not uncommon there.
2009 April 2009 The Dingo colony rumoured to be near the Ospedale by San Zanipolo is actually in the Ospedale grounds, and so not accessible to the general public. Michelle Lovric was taken to see them by a portera and reports the usual hutches and ladies coming to feed them every evening. She took a couple of photos too, as well as the one below of the rusty tabby having a stretch near the Miracoli church.