Market masters Aloys Wiegerink and John Reijns tell us about what they encounter at the market. Aloys: “Especially during the night shifts, you could experience all sorts of things. I once had an incident where I was walking alone through the central market hall at night, and suddenly a cat jumped out between the crates: ‘Meow!’… It startled me to the core at that moment. And I once caught a fox. How it got there, I have no idea. I cornered it with a crate and a plank and put it in the car with the crate.” John Reijns adds: “When you catch such an animal, it starts to stink, unbelievable. I had to drive all the way to Sloterdijk with my head out of the window. Unbearable.”

Aloys: “We have also had a raccoon on the premises or a tropical snake that emerged from the lima bean crates. They were taken to Artis.” John: “Those are things you never forget. Nowadays, we only occasionally see a tarantula between the bananas from the ripening room. Do they go to Artis too? Nah, I think they usually get squashed,” says John laughing.

Aloys: “Escaped bulls used to happen when there was still slaughtering on the premises. There was an intermediate fence at the abattoir to lead those animals inside. One time in 2011, one escaped bull bulldozed the entire fence. There was nothing we could do with that beast. We cornered it with a few cars. The video should still be on YouTube (see video below). You shouldn’t think you can handle such a bull by hand. We once had a hero here who claimed to have experience with cattle. Well, he ended up in the hospital for weeks. The bull pushed him right under a truck.”

Thanks to Aloys Wiegering (now retired) and John Reijns
Text: Jobbe Wijnen