A fat cat has become the top-rated tourist attraction in a Polish city with a perfect 5-star average on Google Maps

Stephanie Stacey
Updated ·2 min read
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A black-and-white cat in a street in Poland with colourful buildings on either side
A local animal charity asked Gacek's fans not to give him any more snacks.wSzczecinie/YouTube

  • A black-and-white cat named Gacek is the top-rated tourist attraction in Szczecin, Poland.

  • The fat feline has a perfect five-star rating on Google Maps.

  • One reviewer said: "I am very fortunate to meet this distinguished gentle creature."

A fat black-and-white cat called Gacek has become the top-rated tourist attraction in the Polish city of Szczecin.

Gacek has a perfect five-star rating on Google Maps. His name, pronounced gats-ek, means "long-eared bat" in Polish.

The rotund feline has beaten out Szczecin's other tourist hotspots, including a Pomeranian Dukes' Castle built in 1346.

Gacek's been living in a covered wooden box on Szczecin's Kaszubska Street for several years and he gets plenty of snacks from passers-by, according to local news outlet wSzczecinie.

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A post shared by Gacek (@kotgacekeveryday)

 

Gacek first drew international attention when he appeared in a YouTube documentary in 2020. He even began to lure visitors from neighboring Germany, according to Notes From Poland.

Gacek's previous listing — which had almost 2,600 reviews according to Mental Floss — appears to have been removed, but a new listing has attracted nearly 500 reviews and an average 5-star rating in its first 48 hours.

One reviewer wrote: "I am very fortunate to have come here and meet this distinguished gentle creature."

In August 2021, one person said they'd flown all the way from Oslo, Norway, to see Gacek: "As expected, he didn't pay any attention to me, which made the experience fully wholesome. If I could have a dinner with anyone in the world, I would fly again in an instant to feed him."

Nevertheless, Gacek's appeal apparently isn't universal. One person gave him a one-star rating in 2022 because he "stole a sausage."

A local animal shelter has urged visitors not to feed Gacek, per Gazeta.pl.

His box is located outside a shop whose workers act as his de-facto guardians. They recently put up a sign asking that any edible offerings for Gacek be left in sealed containers, according to Notes From Poland.

Read the original article on Business Insider