The employees in animal shelters are concerned that after the Corona period, many people want to get rid of the pets they bought during the pandemic.

Lea Schmitz from the Animal Welfare Association, to which about 550 animal shelters are affiliated, told the FAS: “There is great concern about a wave of sales and what may come, and the animal shelters are definitely prepared for anything.

If, at the end of the pandemic, many animals were to be given away at once nationwide, it could quickly become threatening. ”Especially since in the summer the homes also take animals from people into retirement who want to go on vacation.

Frank Pergande

Political correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in Berlin.

  • Follow I follow

    So far, however, only a few cases are known in which animals have been given to the home.

    The Berlin animal shelter had to take in four behavioral dogs in February that were barely nine months old and that the owners therefore had to have acquired during the Corona period.

    The animal shelter in Andernach reported that a puppy was tied up in the park.

    In Offenbach, the animal shelter registered a number of cases last year in which animals purchased during Corona were handed over.

    One family even admitted to the local animal welfare association that they had only bought a rabbit to keep the children who could not go to school busy and that they no longer wanted it.

    "Spontaneous and hasty purchase decisions"

    According to the Pet Supplies Industry Association, a total of 600,000 dogs and one million cats more were purchased last year than in 2019. The animal shelters fear that in many cases “the purchase decision was made spontaneously and prematurely”. At the same time, the Animal Welfare Association emphasized that when animals are taken over from the animal shelter, a check is made to see whether the animal and the interested party match. Naturally, this is not the case when buying in pet shops or on the Internet.

    The animal shelter in Cologne-Zollstock experienced how irrational the search for pets developed: “Inquiries like, I want a dog, if necessary a cat. . . like, you have nothing suitable for me, don't you want to convey animals? Do you at least have a budgie or a hamster? are not the rule, but also not the exception. ”At some animal shelters there was even a bizarre request as to whether one could take an animal in the home office for a few months during the Corona period and then bring it back to the animal shelter.

    Schmitz: “From an animal welfare point of view, such offers are of course not useful.

    The animals should be placed on a long-term basis. ”That is why the animal shelter does not mediate in such cases. That is also the reason why the high demand in the animal shelters is not necessarily reflected in a higher number of placements.

    However, during the Corona period it was possible to find even difficult long-term inmates.

    According to the Animal Welfare Association, this was also due to the fact that “due to the corona, the referrals could only take place via individual appointments at which the individual wishes of those interested could be better addressed and better advised”.

    Illegal puppy prices almost doubled

    Dog theft is also on the rise in the UK because the market has been swept so empty. The “Dognapper” are now even employing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who threatens tougher sentences. Such conditions are not yet recognizable in Germany, although the animal welfare organization "Vier Pfoten" warns of a "significant problem". The State Criminal Police Office of Hesse gives the all-clear: animal theft is at the same level.

    However, the pandemic has skyrocketed prices for illegal puppy dog ​​trafficking. According to "Vier Pfoten", the average price on online platforms has almost doubled compared to November 2019. At that time a puppy cost an average of 840 euros, now it's around 1700 euros. According to the organization, the dams mostly come from Romania or Bulgaria, where they are mated continuously. The puppies would be separated from their mother far too early, smuggled into Germany without vaccinations or worming and sold with false papers.

    According to “Vier Pfoten”, 959 animals from illegal transports were confiscated from January to May 2021. What was noticeable: In April 2020, the number of dog ads on online portals fell by more than two thirds, especially with trend breeds such as Labrador Retrievers or Chihuahua. Then in May, when the borders reopened, to rise again.