TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The first of dozens of shelters meant to provide temporary refuge and sustenance for the capital's stray cats was opened on Sunday (Sept. 20).

The Taipei City Animal Protection Office set up the inaugural "Midnight Animal Cantine" (午夜動保食堂) in Zhongshan District's Heng An village near Qingguang Market, according to an office press release. The shelters are aimed to augment the city's trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) approach to animal control as well as empower locals who want to ensure the health and safety of their stray feline neighbors.

A total of 45 shelters will be opened around the city by the end of the year, with each one including a waterproof roof, litterbox, disinfectant, and pamphlets containing information on animal protection. They will be cleaned regularly by local animal charities and volunteers, and the Animal Protection Office will subsidize food, which will be provided twice a day, a representative told Taiwan News.

The agency invited Italian artist Stefano Misesti to lend his talent to the shelter, and parents are encouraged to bring their children to decorate subsequent "cantines" as they open. The city-sanctioned locations are the only ones where such facilities can be operated, the office emphasized.

Italian artist Stefano Misesti decorates cat shelter. (Taipei Animal Protection Office photo)