doctor ferdinand died
Ojeh, ohjeh, ohjeh,
doctor ferdinand died
it doesn’t hurt anymore
Where there are so many advertisements
love in quarters
doctor ferdinand died
poor animal
(Mani Matter: «Dr Ferdinand is dead»)
Why only have one person to tame when you can have more? There were so many loving hands for Kater Chili. Hearts flew to him when he wandered around Brocki in Wetzikon ZH like a king and chose a seat: on the sofa, in the basket or in a warm embrace. “It was already waiting outside the door when I arrived at 8 a.m.,” says Nadine Kulle, 46, Brocki Wetzikon’s sales manager.
At first the red tomcat roamed outside and let them be petted, but at some point he was also allowed inside. “We scanned the chip and found its owner,” Kulle says. Fränzi Arnold (47) lives nearby with her two children and two other cats. She had no objections to her cat’s walks: “If she feels comfortable and welcome there, then it’s fine. She always comes home to eat in the evenings.”
Pepper belonged to the Brocki family
Chili’s travels are now over. On a warm June evening, the tom-cat crosses the railroad tracks between his house and Brocki, as he often does. This is the last time. “Lots of trains are going, always handled with complete composure, I don’t know what happened that evening,” says the owner of the train. On Friday night, the police bell rang, Chili got under the train. Arnold personally goes to Brocki on Saturday morning to deliver the sad news that comes as a shock to everyone. “It was really bad, most of them came out crying. For a moment I thought we should close up,” Kulle recalls. “Chili was like a family member to us.”
“Oh jeh, oh jeh, oh jeh… poor beast,” Mani Matter would probably sing now. As for the late tomcat Ferdinand: “… It hurts more, that’s where he wants love most in the neighborhood.” Chili was loved by all. “There were never any complaints,” Kulle assures. “It brought people together,” says Brockis’ sales manager. “No matter what age or background, sometimes the four of them stand around him and he was happy for the trusting cat.”
A character on its own
The places where Brocki-Büsi likes to relax are left empty, maybe you can still find a red hair here here. One person who particularly misses Chili is a former Brocki employee. “Roli has come to the shop every day for the past two years since she retired to bring Chili a feast,” Kulle says. “The cat leaves a space, you can’t change it. She was a character in herself, she.”
There were never any complaints about cayenne pepper. It was regularly combed by the staff to prevent too much hair loss. When the pandemic hit, many people worried about a hangover. Where would he get his extra hugs now? And more importantly, would it reappear later? “When we reopened after Corona, everyone asked about hot pepper first,” Kulle says. The cat came and walked into his kingdom like a king as if he had never left.
Many still can’t believe he’s gone forever. A monument to Chili was not intentionally erected in Brocki. Kulle: “There were enough tears already, I thought it would be better if we let him rest and remember him like that.”