Yuri Kuklachev to build $1 million cat palace in Israel

The founder and director of the Moscow Cat Theatre, Yuri Kuklachev, is set to build a palace for cats in Israel, with a $1 million price tag.

According to the press secretary for the project, Ilya Rosenfeld, the palace will be made of glass and will host a museum and classrooms. Each enclosure will be decorated in a different theme, for example the Egyptian enclosure will centre on the pyramids, while the US-themed enclosure will feature representations of skyscrapers. The cats will live in the enclosure that corresponds to the country of origin of their breed.

The palace is due to be built in the Israeli city of Ashkelon, although an exact location has not yet been selected. At present the project organisers are looking for sponsors and are in communication with organisations working for the protection of animals.

“I’ve had this idea for a long time. When we hold cat exhibitions, only about one hundred of them are on show. A thousand cats will live here. For example, it will be possible to collect all the cats in Ashkelon and settle them in this ‘palace’. They will live in freedom — we will create a kind of safari,” Mr Kuklachev commented on his initiative.

Yuri Kuklachev is known as the first circus artist to have trained cats. In 1990 he opened the Kuklachev Moscow Cat Theatre.

Source: Afisha (in Russian)