Boredom, loneliness - feelings that are not alien to many people in the corona lockdown.
Many come up with the idea: A dog has to be here!
But an animal rights activist warns of dubious animal dealers.
Dachau - The loneliness during the pandemic is very troubling for many people - they got a dog.
But what the chairwoman of the Dachau Animal Welfare Association is currently experiencing is shocking: Since so many have bought a dog, the breeders are “bought empty”, as Gruber says.
So people would now buy their dogs from dubious pet dealers.
Silvia Gruber has been active in animal welfare for 40 years.
What the chairwoman of the Dachau Animal Welfare Association is currently experiencing and will probably experience after the end of the lockdown measures, as she fears, is shocking.
In the loneliness of lockdown, many people get the idea of getting a dog.
But: "The breeders are bought empty," says Silvia Gruber.
So many dog lovers - out of necessity - buy their four-legged friends for a few euros from the trunk of dubious animal dealers in Eastern Europe.
Pet boom in corona lockdown: dog breeders are no longer behind
Silvia Gruber would be happy to refer dogs to those who come to her.
But she cannot currently offer the ideal candidates “small, medium-sized, young and healthy”.
She must take care of problem dogs that have come from poor husbandry, have been neglected, or have suffered other dire fates.
"People get aggressive then," says Gruber.
Even the breeders can no longer satisfy the needs for a dog lover, according to Gruber they cannot keep up.
And serious breeding is not an assembly line business.
The animal rights activist has known the not always squeamish treatment of animals for decades.
Animals are often purchased and delivered to the Dachau animal shelter three hours before the start of the holiday.
Sick animals anyway.
Many pet owners do not want to cover the costs of the treatment, instead they simply ask for a new cat, for example - in exchange, so to speak.
The animal welfare association has to pay more than 10,000 euros a month in clinic costs alone.
Ascending trend.
“It's brutal,” reports Gruber, and gets approval from the German Animal Welfare Association.
Buying dogs in Corona times: four-legged friends are becoming disposable - animal rights activist warns against dubious breeders
The aggressiveness, the egoism of the people and the handling of animals as disposable goods - it is getting worse and worse in the pandemic.
"Dogs are wonderful partners when they fit into life," says Walter Kreipl.
He is a state sworn expert in the government of Upper Bavaria for dogs that have become conspicuous due to aggressive behavior or dangerousness.
"There are noticeably many puppies and many 'novice dogs'", says the dog expert.
It is logical that the puppies cannot all come from reputable breeders.
Kreipl himself has bred for many years and knows how many requirements, controls and regulations a serious breed in the Association for the German Dog Society (VDH) has to undergo in order to produce healthy puppies.
Lots of people don't want to know anything about it, they just need a dog, regardless of the circumstances, according to the expert.
The dogs would be acquired in a spontaneous action and then treated like "little people".
This would “unconsciously systematically train behavior disorders”: The dogs would receive no training, no structure;
and if they become uncomfortable or the home office ends, they end up in the animal shelter.
“Just like that,” says Kreipl.
Positive example: the family gets a dog - "It was a complete emptiness at home"
The example of the Krolop family from the Schwabhausen community shows that things can be different when buying a dog.
The new family member Ellie has been living with the family of four since the end of January.
The grief over the death of the boxer dog Ayla last Christmas was so great that a new dog should be bought.
“It was a complete emptiness at home,” Juliana Krolop remembers when Ayla unexpectedly died of a brain tumor in just a few days.
The family gave a lot of thought to the new dog;
which breed, which breeder and much more.
Because Ellie is an Australian Shepherd and therefore cannot be compared with a boxer.
Is that what we want, does the race suit us?
With a VDH breeder, the waiting time would have been one to one and a half years.
The family didn't want to wait that long.
But the Krolops were deeply reluctant to go to a "multiplier".
By chance I came into contact with a friend in North Rhine-Westphalia whose Australian Shepherd bitch was expecting offspring.
Not with VDH papers, but also not from the trunk of a seedy animal dealer.
Several times the Krolops drove to NRW, visited the bitch and puppy, got to know the male and then decided on Ellie.
Even if dog school and puppy play lessons are currently not possible - Ellie is “busy, typical of the breed”, learns basic commands and everyone takes care of them.
It will stay that way even after the pandemic - the parents can sometimes stay in the home office, the children can play with Ellie after school and go for walks.
Ellie is part of the family now - in good times and bad.
The Krolops spare no expense or effort to look after themselves.
By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our new, regular Dachau newsletter.
(By Simone Wester)
List of rubric lists: © sim
