Tierschutzverein Kreis Heinsberg - The animal shelter with a personal touch

"Living animal welfare - giving a chance" is the motto of the animal shelter in Heinsberg. We visited the animal welfare association on site, gained a lot of interesting impressions and even managed to get a personal interview with the animal shelter manager, Ms. Braun. Read on to find out what the work of the animal shelter looks like and what they pay close attention to when placing animals.

AniForte®: When and how was the Heinsberg animal shelter founded?

Ms. Braun: The Heinsberg animal shelter was founded on April 11, 1975. People realized that an animal welfare association was needed in the Heinsberg district and founded the association. However, a lot of time passed before the animal shelter was opened, there was a lack of suitable land and also a lack of finances, as is often the case in animal welfare. It was not until May 27, 1987 that the Heinsberg animal shelter was able to open its doors.

AniForte®: Every year, around 300,000 animals are abandoned in Germany. The numbers rise, especially in summer. And Corona is also said to have contributed to this. Are you also feeling the effects? How many abandoned animals usually find their way to you?

Ms Braun: At our animal shelter, we don't notice that there are certain months when more animals are abandoned. It's the same all year round. Corona also had no influence on the increase in numbers. We didn't record a single additional surrender; on the contrary, we placed many more animals than usual during this time. People probably had more time and wanted to test out whether they could cope with an animal. Of course, there were also concerns that the number of animals handed in would rise again after corona. However, we have not observed this so far. Because we explicitly pay attention to who we place the animals with - regardless of corona.

AniForte®: To what extent are you feeling the effects of corona at your animal shelter?

Ms Braun: Corona has affected and restricted us all, no question about it. We had to close our doors and no longer had visiting hours. Our summer party was also canceled. Overall, around 1/3 of our income and donations were lost due to coronavirus. Of course, this affects many areas of our work and we have to see how we can compensate for this. We do receive irregular support, but very little. We hope that we can somehow bridge the gap.

Paradoxically, Corona has also had advantages for our animal shelter. We had the opportunity to restructure our processes and adjust our visiting times at the same time. That makes our work easier. I would also say that many other animal shelters in Germany felt the same way. You just try to adapt and break new ground.

AniForte®: What are the most common reasons why people hand in their animals to you?

Ms. Braun: The classic reason is still supposedly allergies! Of course, you can't say for sure whether this is true or not, but it is often given as a reason. Other reasons include relocation and, especially in the case of dogs, being completely overwhelmed is a recurring reason for relinquishment.

People acquire dog breeds that do not suit their character or lifestyle. As soon as the animals are large and fully grown, the problems become apparent. Aggression and excessive demands are the results. Most animals are naturally in need of training. We do not have the utopia of a well-behaved dog that is given away due to divorce.

AniForte®: So many animals are still in need of training. How do you deal with such animals at the shelter? Do you take special measures?

Ms. Braun: We actually do a lot to get animals ready for rehoming. Like many animal shelters nowadays, we also have a dog trainer. This means that we work with the animals as well as regularly training the staff and our volunteer dog walkers.

For our cats, we work with cat psychologists, because cats are also showing more and more behavioral problems when they come to us at the shelter.

AniForte®: How many animals do you find a new home for each year?

Ms. Braun: For dogs it's around 40 a year, for cats we're significantly higher, around 300 a year. That's a big difference, of course, but it has to be said that cats are also the biggest item at the shelter. We have many more cats than dogs, and the capacity for house pets is also higher, which is why we place cats more often. And of course it has to be said that cats are usually much easier to care for than dogs and the human has much less work to do.

AniForte®: What do I need to consider if I want to adopt an animal from a shelter? What do you pay particular attention to?

Ms. Braun: Unfortunately, we have an increasing number of people who are mentally unwell. In our experience, many doctors recommend that their patients think about getting an animal. The first port of call is then animal shelters, which is usually a good thing. However, this is where mentally stressed people meet equally stressed animals. This is because the animals that are in the shelter are always there for a specific reason. Either they have experienced something traumatic, were unwanted or were difficult to train. This relationship is strained from the outset.

Our animals need people who know that they are taking in an animal with a history of stress. People who are prepared to invest a lot of time in the animal. If you are looking for a therapy companion, the animal shelter is clearly the wrong place. There are many other places to go.

AniForte®: What are the requirements for adopting an animal from your shelter?

Ms. Braun: There is no one-size-fits-all answer. For us, it's quite clear that no one can come here and say: "I like this one, I'll take it!" When prospective buyers come looking for an animal, they usually already have precise ideas about what breed, what age, etc. We then look at the lifestyle and living conditions and decide together which dog would be best suited to this person. We then arrange 3-5 visits in the form of walks, training with the dog and sometimes a day with the potential dog owners. If, after some time, the dog looks more at the new owners and less at us pet carers, the time has come for us to initiate the adoption.

AniForte®: Do you carry out regular follow-up visits after a successful placement? And if so, what are your experiences?

Ms. Braun: We animal keepers don't do it ourselves, but we have a volunteer monitoring team that also carries out on-site visits. However, I have to say that we are still in contact with most of the dogs from our shelter and their owners. We also receive regular photos and reports on how the animals are developing.

AniForte®: Let's move on to another current topic: On 17.08.2020, Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner proposed a law that would require dog owners to allow their pets to run outside at least twice a day for a total of at least one hour. What is your opinion on this topic?

Ms. Braun: Personally, I think that any law that improves the lives of animals is a good law. At the moment, if someone calls us and reports that their neighbor, for example, works 12 hours a day and leaves their dog alone all day, we can report this to the veterinary office. The competent authority contacts the dog owner and informs him that he should not leave the dog alone for so long. It is countered that the dog is well looked after, has food and enough to drink. So, according to the current legal situation, the issue has been resolved. If we had a legal basis for this, the authorities would be able to deal with such cases. This law would also benefit kennel dogs, which are kept all day in 6 square meters and hardly have any exercise.

AniForte®: What can be done to help you and the shelter?

Ms. Braun: There are many different ways to help in an animal shelter. Starting with old discarded towels and blankets, cleaning materials, food and time spent with the animals. And, of course, you can also donate money, because money can be used individually and can be used where something is urgently needed.

I recommend anyone who wants to do something good for their local animal shelter to give them a call and ask where the need is.

AniForte®: Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?

Ms. Braun: I would like to encourage and urge everyone to look for animals at animal shelters or other placement agencies first. Because there are large, small, old and young animals for sale at animal shelters. Even exotic animals can now be found in animal shelters, as can ours. I am sure that there is a suitable animal for everyone.

Under no circumstances should you support so-called breeders and buy animals from them. Unfortunately, this encourages the criminal animal trade.