As of: February 18, 2024, 10:00 a.m
By: Katarina Amtmann
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Things are getting tight in Bavaria's animal shelters.
In one facility, dogs had to be temporarily kept in the toilet because there was no other space.
Munich - In Bavaria there are animal shelters that are so full that dogs have to be accommodated in a toilet.
Facilities across the country are struggling with space issues and complaining about inadequate support.
Rosenheim animal shelter is full, strain on employees: “Fate of every animal shelter”
When the animal shelter in Rosenheim in Upper Bavaria reaches its limits again, you can hear it. It can get a little louder if all the places in the dog department are full, reports Andrea Thomas, the chairwoman of the Rosenheim animal protection association, which runs the home.
However, the stress is particularly stressful for the 27 employees because the home is full of dogs, cats, hamsters and bearded dragons.
“That’s just the fate of every animal shelter,” explains Thomas, knowing full well that animal shelters everywhere are facing overload: too many animals, too little space, staff and financial resources.
This situation affects facilities all over Germany, as a survey by the Editorial Network Germany (RND) among 85 homes nationwide showed.
According to this survey, 80 percent have introduced a waiting list or a no-take-in policy for dogs to be surrendered by private owners.
For cats, this applies to 60 percent of cases.
Bavaria's animal shelters are at their limit.
© Andreas Arnold/dpa +++ dpa-Bildfunk +++
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Sick and old dogs end up in animal shelters - no room for more new arrivals
Bavaria is no exception, as Ilona Wojahn, the president of the Bavarian regional association in the German Animal Welfare Association, confirms.
85 homes are organized under the umbrella of the association.
The facilities try to support each other by asking about available capacities - but increasingly nothing comes back from such requests.
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A big problem: “The length of stay is increasing because we are getting sick and old animals more and more often.” This particularly affects dogs.
Such animals are difficult to adopt.
As a result, there is no space for new animals.
“We often end up with dogs that have already been resold from owner to owner several times,” adds Andrea Thomas from the Rosenheim animal shelter.
Cat protection regulations and expertise tests required for dog owners
In order to avoid such situations, Wojah calls for a knowledge test for future dog owners.
The online trade in animals should also be banned.
Since the uncontrolled proliferation of cats is also overcrowding homes, a comprehensive cat protection regulation is necessary.
This would require owners to register and neuter free-roaming animals.
As long as such measures are missing, things will become tight in the homes.
Another home manager from Bavaria reported to the German Press Agency that dogs in his facility temporarily had to be accommodated in a toilet.
The situation looked different during the corona pandemic.
Back then, many people got an animal companion from a home, says Wojahn.
But during the curfews and closed dog schools, many owners neglected training.
As a result, dogs developed behavioral problems and biting - and eventually found their way back to the animal shelter.
Owners threaten to abandon the animals: “They are vulnerable to blackmail”
Unless there is a stop to recording.
Then some owners become unpleasant, reports Thomas, and threaten to abandon the unloved animals.
“As an animal protection association, we are open to blackmail,” she says.
Wojahn is also familiar with such cases of emotional blackmail: “It bothers us a lot.”
However, shelters cannot refuse abandoned and lost animals that are found.
For such cases, the clubs have contracts with the municipalities - either for an annual flat rate or billed on a case-by-case basis.
This solution often does not cover the costs, says Wojahn.
Like Thomas, she calls for a nationwide financial regulation that does not turn animal protection into a subsidy business.
Because: “Many animal shelters are exploited.”
(kam/dpa)
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