Amsterdam café owner fears beloved cat, Sambal, has been stolen
A popular café in the city center of Amsterdam is worried that the cat which calls the bar its home has gone missing, or may have been stolen. The eight-month-old cat, Sambal, lives at Café Fonteyn at the Nieuwmarkt, but has not been seen in the area since last weekend.
Sambal's name comes from his red coat, but he is certainly not a hot head, as the name suggests. "He is the most social cat you'll meet. He's not afraid of anything yet," Fonteyn co-owner Loran Zonnenberg told NL Times on Friday.
"He's always jumping on the tables and jumping on the bar. He plays with everything that rolls. It doesn't matter how old or young you are, he just comes to you."
He was last seen at a neighboring establishment on the evening of January 4th. Sambal's AirTag tracking device and collar were found on the corner of Geldersekade and Stormsteeg in De Wallen near Nieuwmarkt, where the cafe is located.
But the collar was carefully unbuckled and left in a bicycle basket. This led Zonnenberg to believe that someone stole Sambal. If that is the case, the owners of Cafe Fonteyn are asking the perpetrator to bring Sambal back immediately.
They are also offering a reward to anyone that finds him. "We will discuss with that person what the reward will be. We are willing to do anything for it," says Zonnenberg.
