Amsterdam is launching an unusual city initiative: hundreds of wooden mini-staircases will be installed along its famous canals to help animals get out of the water. The move is a response to worrying statistics — just this year, 19 cats have drowned in the canals, and over the past ten years 142 people, including tourists, have died.
The project has been allocated €100,000 from the city budget. Officials are working with Dierenambulance, which maps the most dangerous locations. The idea was borrowed from the city of Amersfoort, where 300 similar staircases were installed this summer.
Canal safety is not only an issue for animals. On average, 14 people drown in Amsterdam’s waterways every year. Special ledges have already been installed in new districts for people, and the mini-staircases will become an additional safety measure for the city’s most vulnerable inhabitants. A small staircase can save a life, and hundreds of such little “bridges” make Amsterdam kinder, safer and more modern.
