The Toronto Humane Society has jumped on the rooftop bandwagon, opening a new garden playground for its feline residents.
The enclosed rooftop garden actually opened last month as a result of a partnership between cat food company Purina and environmental non-profit Evergreen. It is the first of a variety of planned playgrounds set to open across the country this summer and features an area for fresh air, complete with catnip and other cat-friendly herbs in various containers. It is designed just as much for the cats as it is the shelter's volunteers.
In an article that ran on cat blog Catster, the Humane Society's executive director Barbara Steinhoff said the garden patio's launch was so successful staff members have had to instigate a sign-up sheet to prevent the patio from becoming too crowded. Watching kittens explore the outdoors for the first time has been one of the highlights.
“To see them running and playing is such an incredible experience,” Steinhoff says in the article.
The rooftop features many small trees and produce plants, which volunteers are free to pick produce and herbs from to take home. Evergreen has been instrumental in designing the garden.
"There were very little signs of life there,” Evergreen project manager Joseph Leo says in the article. The patio was originally drenched in sun, making it far too hot. Planting small trees helped provide shade. They are not expected to grow too tall as they age. "We tried to come up with not only what would look nice but also what would be the most functional and sustainable for them."
Though the catnip was expected to be the big hit, it’s the strawberry patch that the cats love most of all.
This playground also got
accolades in Jezebel, which championed the playground as "Yet another reason to move to Canada."
Read the full story (and look at the adorable kitten photos)
here.
Original Source: Catster
Photo credit: Difusa via photopin.