{"id":142812,"date":"2026-04-19T23:16:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T21:16:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oldaalten.nl\/aalten-achteruit\/the-rat-catcher-of-aalten\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T13:19:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T11:19:31","slug":"the-rat-catcher-of-aalten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oldaalten.nl\/en\/aalten-achteruit\/the-rat-catcher-of-aalten\/","title":{"rendered":"The rat-catcher of Aalten"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Brown rat, photo for illustrative purposes<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On July 19, 1963, the Tubantia newspaper reported:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Today, Mr. S. Douma officially retires from the public works department in Aalten. Thus far, Mr. Douma has been unwilling to be ‘persuaded’ to appear at the customary farewell gathering of the staff association. Out of modesty. With Mr. Douma, one of the most striking figures of the street scene is disappearing. He is particularly well-liked by the farming community. It was he, after all, who served the municipality of Aalten in the profession of rat-catcher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this departure does not mean that the Aalten rats now have free rein. On the contrary, Mr. Douma is leaving everything behind except for the rats. For the time being, he will continue to handle this part of his duties at the request of the municipality. The hunt will likely become even more intensive, as the time is now available for it. The ‘rat-catcher’, who was in municipal service for over 30 years, has handled 1,172 pest control cases since the rat hunt began. How many rats he has killed is difficult to estimate, but it is certain that there are thousands. Mr. Douma hopes to add many more to that number.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, October 22, 1964, Douma, ‘the retired rat-catcher from Aalten’<\/em>, was a guest on the NCRV radio program ‘Samen uit samen thuis’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have more information or photos to supplement this article, please respond below or send us a message<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Sources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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