They are small and cuddly, big or playful, fascinating or even frightening: animals from the animal shelter have no home and are instead housed in one of the around 1,400 animal shelters in Germany.
Hundreds of thousands of animals affected
It is difficult to say how many small animals, birds, cats, dogs or reptiles actually live in Germany’s animal shelters.
According to information from the Animal Welfare Association, animal shelters nationwide take in around 350,000 animal residents. The number is constantly increasing.
More and more animal lovers are finding themselves in financial distress due to rising energy costs and inflation. They do not have the necessary financial means to cover expenses for food, veterinary treatments or the necessary accessories. In this case, they often see the animal shelter as their last resort.
Animals with tragic pasts
Animal adoption is when pets are placed in a new home. But it takes a lot of time and patience to get the animal family members used to the new living conditions. It is a misconception to assume that you can bring cute pets home and enjoy a harmonious family life right from the start.
Instead, many animals have a dramatic history that may have traumatized them. The animals were often mistreated, abandoned, lived in degrading conditions or were separated from their mother too early. All of these experiences have a lasting impact on animal behavior.
Hope for mediation
These circumstances lead to many animal shelter residents having quite complicated behaviors. What makes matters worse is that animal shelters are obliged to take in strays and animals confiscated by the police in addition to animals from private households.
Numerous dogs have to be moved to the animal shelter because they were actively involved in a so-called bite incident.
However, animal shelter managers can only place these four-legged friends in the hands of experienced dog owners. In addition, there are also many cats that are difficult to adopt due to their complicated nature.
Good opportunities even for inexperienced animal lovers
But even inexperienced animal lovers have a good chance of finding new animal companions in animal shelters. The less problematic the animals are, the easier it is to find them.
In the summer and fall, animal shelters usually give away entire litters of kittens, which are adopted out within a short period of time. In most cases, the cats are not even listed on the animal shelter websites.
Screening of future pet owners
Wanting to cuddle with a fluffy companion or not being able to resist a loyal puppy stare does not automatically qualify a person to own animals. That’s why employees from the animal shelter carefully check whether the interested parties offer an appropriate animal home with suitable keeping conditions. When making inquiries online, it is common for those interested in animals to first answer a few questions online. Animal shelter managers use these questions to inquire, for example, whether other animals already live in the household.
Information on leisure activities, the size of the living space or family circumstances is also required.
Requirements for future husbandry are high. If you want to adopt a dog, you usually have to plan several get-to-know-you meetings.
In addition, trial visits to the new environment are common, and employees or volunteers are usually present. After a successful placement, further control visits are made to the animal owners.
Calculation of a protection fee
If humans and animals find each other, nothing stands in the way of mediation. However, the new pet owners have to pay a protective fee to the animal shelter. The protection fee for small animals is between 20 and 40 euros, and for cats around 100 euros.
A fee of between 200 and 300 euros is usual for dogs. The costs are usually significantly lower than those for breeding animals. As a rule, the dogs and cats have already been neutered, vaccinated and chipped. If the animals have not yet received these treatments before adoption, veterinarians working for the animal shelters will carry out vaccinations or castrations upon request.
Legal consequences
In most cases, there are no sales contracts between the animal shelter and the new animal owners. Instead, all parties involved agree on a takeover or protection agreement. There is no right to a warranty. If an illness develops in the animal after it has been handed over, the new owners must cover the veterinary costs.
If sold by a pet shop or breeder, pet owners have a better chance legally.
Under these circumstances, buyers have the opportunity within two years to return the animals if they have a “defect” such as a behavioral problem or illness. In practice, however, most people do not make use of this right because a bond has already been established between humans and animals.
Owner or owner?
From a legal point of view, the new animal owners are also the animal owners. But often the animal shelters still remain animal owners. In some animal shelters, this entitlement applies for a set period of time, sometimes even forever.
These legal relationships enable animal shelters to take their animal charges back into care if necessary. To ensure that this does not happen in practice, the institutions set high hurdles for potential animal owners. Fortunately, this case only rarely occurs.
2024-01-26 09:09:58