Amsterdam is Building Tiny Wooden Staircases to Protect its Cats

Famous for its scenic network of canals, designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites, many may not know that Amsterdam’s iconic waterways have become a hazard for the city’s cats. These felines are endangered by the combination of its many canals, the high quay walls, and the narrow streets.

Now, Amsterdam is  trying to protect its cats with an ambitious program to build mini wooden staircases to help them if they fall in the water. It is an endeavor that offers a refreshingly humane counter narrative to urban efficiency; one that salutes its non-human lives as part of the city’s fabric. This initiative, as Vice reports, involves spending over 100,000 euros to build the tiny staircases at various points along its waterways as part of a cat safety drive.

Euro News details that cats accidentally fall into canals when something startles them. While able to swim, they quickly become exhausted as the water weighs down their fur. This is why cat ladders can serve as a lifeline.

Working Together to Help Local Felines

This ingenious plan to give cats and other small creatures like hedgehogs an escape route out of the city’s canals which can endanger them, was developed after 19 cats drowned in the city’s canals in the last six months. It was presented by Judith Krom of the Party for the Animals (PvdD.)

Krom has called their introduction: “A simple measure” that can “prevent enormous animal suffering.”

As the New York Post outlines, Amsterdam’s City Council voted in favor of Krom’s motion on July 10 2025. Krom sees this as a demonstration of the city’s wish to take responsibility for protecting the lives of animals.

It turns out that the city’s animal welfare chief, Zita Pels, had previously been in favor of these cat rescue steps, but had put the idea on the back burner due to lack of funds. The PvdD, however, identified an unused 100,000 euro in her biodiversity budget earmarked for so-called “Wildlife edit points,” giving this program the green light.

Today, the city’s  Dierenambulance Amsterdam animal welfare organization is on call to provide an ambulance service around the clock to help animals in medical need. It has been tasked with working with the city to pinpoint locations where the most accidental cat plunges have happened.

The positioning is critical to the success of the project. As Time Out notes, a staircase is no help if it’s too far away from the spots where cats and other small animals find it hardest to escape from.

Cat Staircases Have Already Been Successful in the Netherlands

Amsterdam is not the only Dutch city to have embraced staircase aids for felines. The nearby city of Amersfoort in Utrecht started installing approximately 300 of these exit ladders leading out of the water and onto the banks as part of its 2024 animal welfare initiative.

The aim here too, as Euro News details, is to protect animals that sometimes fall into the water, and are unable to climb out due to the high sides. As Amersfoort councillor Johnas van Lammeren tells the Independent: “Unfortunately, animals that end up in water in areas with high quays or quay walls can’t get out and drown.”

Here, the council worked carefully with the local community to identify trouble spots for cats. Going forward, it plans to install another 300 cat staircases along its quays and canals every year.