Pets from the Corona period fill animal shelters: 70 dogs from Munich on the waiting list

Created: 08/11/2022 10:28 am

By: Carina Zimniok, Laura Forster

A dog wears a special dog harness and a collar at the animal shelter in Munich.

© Peter Kneffel/dpa

A clumsy puppy is just cute - and was an asset in the lonely pandemic period.

But now everyday life is back and the dog is big.

Animal shelters are feeling the consequences.

Munich – There is this bitch, a mastiff crossbreed, who was almost portrayed as malicious by her owners.

"It's a very nice thing," says Allegra Rudek, animal keeper at the Schongau animal shelter.

Nevertheless, master and mistress wanted to get rid of the dog again - and Rudek sees a pattern in this: "It was probably a corona dog."

The animal keeper recognizes Corona dogs by their age: Many of the dogs that now end up in the animal shelter are one to one and a half years old.

The races are often large and difficult - a sign that the acquisition happened imprudently.

By people who don't really know what to do with the animal.

This takes revenge at some point: "Most of the time, the owners say the dog bit," says animal keeper Rudek.

But that doesn't happen without a reason.

"They just didn't bother with the breed." Dogs like that are a lot of work.

"It's better to enjoy the summer and push the dog away again."

Corona dogs have "deficits": Little contact with other dogs and people as the cause

Like many other animal shelters in Germany, the animal shelter in Schongau is currently full.

The carers are on the limit: "The many animals bring the staff to their limits," says the President of the German Animal Welfare Association, Thomas Schröder.

Mainly because many of the dogs need a lot of care.

Because the Corona period has left its mark on young dogs.

This is also stated by Udo Kopernik from the German Kennel Club.

"The dogs already have a deficit," he says.

They were used to being looked after around the clock and had little contact with other dogs and people.

When the owners had to go back to work after months in the home office, the problems arose because they couldn't take the dog with them, but they didn't want to be alone or be cared for by others.

Animal shelter in Munich imposed admission stop: "We are full to the roof"

The situation in the animal shelter in Munich is also tense as it rarely is.

"We're full to the roof," says Kristina Berchtold.

The animal shelter has already imposed a kind of admission freeze, there are waiting lists for dogs, cats and other small animals.

On the one for dogs alone there are 70 animals that need shelter because their owners no longer want them.

Summer is always difficult anyway: there is little interest in adopting a new pet during the holiday season.

Then there is the classic mediation lull, the animals back up.

There is already an admission freeze at the Starnberg animal shelter.

"In the past two weeks alone, seven new dogs have been handed over to us," says Tanja Wieber.

Fortunately, there are also inquiries, she reports.

"But sometimes it just takes a little longer."

"Found animals" and the puppy trade bring animal shelters to their breaking point

According to Kristina Berchtold, there are also a particularly large number of “found animals” in addition to the Corona dogs, which were also registered in Schongau.

"Nobody likes to admit that they don't want an animal anymore," she says.

Then they are secretly abandoned.

If the animals even get a place in the shelter, they have to wait a long time for a new owner.

Of course, large, badly behaved dogs have a particularly bad chance of finding a new home.

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A problem that the Nuremberg animal shelter draws attention to: many of these corona animals cannot be entrusted to the volunteers who otherwise walk the dogs.

Many dogs behaved strangely.

They don't know how to communicate, react aggressively and bark at strangers.

Another problem is the illegal puppy trade, which has flourished due to the great demand for dogs in the Corona crisis.

Last year, 170 puppies that the police had freed from illegal transport ended up in the Nuremberg animal shelter alone.

Many of the puppies are far too young to be separated from their mother and siblings, says Udo Kopernik.

"Even diseases in young dogs can be traced back to dubious breeders who did not carry out proper health checks on the parent animals."