The Israeli animal welfare group Let the Animals Live says open concrete pools at light rail construction sites in Tel Aviv are still harming animals, months after it warned the project company NTA about the danger. The group says it alerted NTA about the issue roughly three months ago, but insists the hazard has not been fixed.
The latest case involves a street cat named Lucy, which the group says recently fell into a concrete pit left at a light rail work site. Lucy was able to pull herself out, but her fur was covered in hardened concrete, making it hard for her to walk and clean herself. People who found her took her to municipal veterinary services, where large sections of her fur had to be shaved off to remove the concrete. She has now been returned to the street with much of her coat missing.
According to the group, its legal department wrote to NTA after residents reported open concrete pits at a work site at Arlozorov and Shlomo HaMelech streets in Tel Aviv. The letter said the pits were about 50 centimeters deep, left unattended for a long time, and were not effectively blocked by existing fencing. The organization warned the pits were a “death trap” for cats, reptiles, rodents, birds, and other animals, and said a cat had already fallen in and needed medical treatment. It demanded that the pits be fenced or covered so animals could not enter.
NTA said it had instructed contractors to fence the casting areas and later reaffirmed that guidance after a February complaint from Let the Animals Live. But the group says the situation on the ground has not improved and that Lucy’s case proves the danger remains. In a post, it quoted itself as saying the company had been told to fence the sites, “but in practice the situation remained the same.”
In response, NTA said it was very sorry to hear about Lucy and wished her a speedy recovery. It said the contractor is carrying out large-scale casting work across Gush Dan as the Purple Line advances, that all sites are fenced, and that no additional incidents beyond Lucy’s have been found. The company added that it will examine the issue again, conduct observations during casting, and asked anyone who finds a cat injured by concrete to contact NTA’s community relations through its hotline.
