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Söder-Welpe Molly: The Bavarian head of government is in line with the German trend
Photo: private / picture alliance / dpa
In the corona pandemic, many people in Germany decided to buy a dog.
According to the Association for the German Dog Industry (VDH), 20 percent more dogs were bought in 2020 compared to previous years.
Whether Labrador or French Bulldog: "The demand is extreme," says the chairman of the Rhineland-Palatinate VDH, Herbert Klemann.
The breeders are literally "bombarded" with phone calls and cannot breed as much as is being asked for.
That was already the case in 2020: “And the need is still there.
The fact that the lockdown has been extended is fueling the whole thing again, ”he says.
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German Shorthaired Pointer: "The need is still there"
Photo: Bernd Thissen / dpa
Because in the corona pandemic, many families are more at home than usual.
The run on puppies is very big nationwide, says VDH spokesman Udo Kopernik.
"The hut is run into the breeders."
Markus Söder (CSU) is one of those who recently decided on a new animal family member.
The Bavarian Prime Minister presented Molly on Twitter last week - and stole a little attention from the sister party and its new chairman: the CDU party congress started on the same day, and Armin Laschet was elected to the top the next day.
VDH spokesman Kopernik, however, sees the trend critically.
"If parents give in to their desire to have children and actually don't want a dog themselves, it can only go wrong." Klemann fears that after the pandemic many dogs could end up in the animal shelter.
"When people go to work normally again and the children can no longer look after the dog, that becomes a problem."
Regarding the skyrocketing sales of dogs, Kopernik said: "That is a dramatic growth, a big step in a very short time." In the past 15 years, the number of dogs in Germany has increased from 6.5 to ten million estimated.
Cities are also registering more dog tax registrations.
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fdi / dpa
