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Cat lovers, rejoice! That is, if you’re in Japan. The Yoro Railway Co Ltd. recently teamed up with an NGO called Kitten Café Sanctuary to make the world’s first cat train. That’s right — cats on a train.
The goal of the partnership between the Japanese civic group and the railway company is to promote stray cat adoption, a problem that has riddled the country with a cat population of nearly 10 million. The railway company and the NGO are also working together to promote tourism between Ōgaki and the destination city, Ikeno. Cats on a train is just the newest venture for the cat-loving industry in Japan — the country is home to cafés where enthusiasts can play with local felines while sipping coffee or tea. The train ride aims to promote awareness of cat welfare issues, especially the plight of those who have been abandoned and are strays.
The inaugural ride left from Ōgaki on Sunday and lasted two and a half hours. The train was packed with 30 cats of different breeds, and all of them were brought in from local shelters. One passenger from Sunday’s ride noted that these felines were not like the café cats in that they were active and socialized with everyone on board. According to Japan Today, the reservations booked up quickly and given the response, hopefully another ride is in the cards for those who missed this opportunity. Tickets cost about $27 — each included a bento box lunch, sweets and an unlimited rail pass for the day — while a portion of the proceeds was used to fund Kitten Café Sanctuary’s rescue operations.
The train ride is part of an ongoing effort in Japan to reduce the number of cats culled each year, and so far, tremendous strides have been made. The number of cats admitted to shelters in Japan has dropped nearly 70% — to 72,624 in 2016 from 237,246 in 2004. Check out the video below for a closer look.
Source: thepointsguy.com