By: Daniela Jimenez
Kennedy Park located inside of the city of Miraflores in Peru is known for the cats that all live within the park. There are roughly 30 cats along with local food vendors in just about every corner. |
Every day, this park is full of local residents and even tourists that come to see take advantage of the park. A fact that is not known about this park when coming to visit is that it is a daily struggle for the cats who live in the park and for the local vendors that come out everyday to make a living. |
These cats started habiting the park for a few years now. Their number only continues to increase due to mating that happens between them. |
These cats happened to be used to all of the people around them however. These cats don’t only struggle everyday for their food, water and shelter, but are also extremely friendly. |
Local municipal workers do attempt to keep the park clean from clutter and trash. Paulina Vazquez confirmed that at least multiple municipal workers spend time at the park at least making sure it is clean. |
This cat was sun bathin in the middle of a small plaza within the park. It is very common to see them approach locals at the park in order to try to find some food for their day. |
This local vendor, Luis Moreira, who sells snacks and drinks shared that he along with other vendors at least serve water for these cats. “When you are struggling, it is easier to understand other struggles,” Luis said. |
Everywhere around the park the luck of finding these stray cats is there. For tourists they are a main attraction. |
Their main source of food completely depends on tourists who come to the park. Everyday these cats face this struggle where they hope to be lucky enough to be fed. |
When these cats don’t depend on the park visitors they simply rely on themselves. This cat stared at a bird waiting for it to come down from the tree. |
The cats also run the risk of getting diseases from simply living outside. For these cats, an option of going the vet is not even plausible despite their reproduction rate. |
Other local vendors like Mario Gomez considers that these cats eventually have found this as their home. Mario explains how although these cats may seem to struggle, that vendors like himself or local indigenous women don’t have it easy either. |
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| This is Micaela who happens to be beling to one of the indigenous groups in Peru. “You can take a picture of me as long as you please buy me something, for one dollar, please?” Micaela said. |
Micaela shared that you can find her at the park Monday through Friday from 8a.m. to 5p.m.. Her day begins at 5a.m. due to how far she lives, and every afternoon after 5p.m. the afternoon is dedicated for making everything she seels by hand. |
This is a picture in which you can see two street vendors. This graps a sense of what the park looks like which runs for as long as 1 mile and as wide as 2 miles. |
These local street vendors set their small shops anywhere on the floor. Even at the entrance of churches or other buildings in the area. |
This is Oscar, who sells lotery tickets before and after the church service. “Recently lottery hasn’t been as popular so I have been struggling since the pandemic. |
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| This local vendor was asleep right around during lunch hour. After waking up for just a second, he mentioned that the job is so monotonous and slow that napping isn't a problem. |
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| This particular cat at the park caught my atention. He methodically walked through every bush hunting for his lunch. |
Cats, are considered pets in many places around the world, but in this park they play the role a simple street animal. As people walk by, some stare, some wait to be pet, and others just spend their day on their normal hunt for food.
