The condition of the buildings on the grounds of the Wetterau animal shelter is not in good shape.

Which is especially true for the house with the quarantine station.

Damage can be seen in many places on foundations, walls and roofs.

Heiko Färber also speaks of the need for action in view of the dilapidated building fabric.

For many years he has been the chairman of the Wetterau animal shelter association, which runs the facility on the outskirts of the Rödgen district of Bad Nauheim.

The facility was built around five decades ago on damp terrain in the lowlands of the Wetter.

Which probably led to the foundations sagging and the building fabric being damaged.

Wolfram Ahlers

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for central Hesse and the Wetterau.

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According to Färber, hardly any investments have been made in maintaining the buildings since the beginning, with the result that, according to his findings, repairs are no longer enough, but that a major solution is required to modernize the conditions for animals and employees.

According to his estimates, investments of one to one and a half million euros are required to bring the entire system into shape.

The quarantine station is of particular importance

It remains to be seen whether the big hit will actually happen.

At least in terms of the quarantine house, something could happen.

The Wetteraukreis committees have approved the construction of a new quarantine house and have signaled that an appropriate amount will be made available for it.

The district is a member of the supporting association, as are 22 cities and municipalities.

This is no coincidence, because according to the regulations, the municipalities are responsible for the admission, accommodation, care and supervision of lost animals.

The district, in turn, is responsible for safeguarding animal welfare and animal health legislation.

The fact that the focus is initially on the quarantine house does not only have to do with the building fabric, the quarantine station is also of particular importance for the facility because all animals of unknown origin and unclear health status are housed there in order to prevent the transmission of possible diseases.

The quarantine is the bottleneck when it comes to accepting found animals and animals that have been seized and is therefore immensely important for the smooth running of the shelter, as Färber says.

In a first step, the board of the association must submit a concept for the new construction of the quarantine house, which also includes a cost calculation.

Dyer, who is the main manager of the Federal Association of Practicing Veterinarians, expects that the report could be available by autumn.

Then the sponsoring association, the district and the municipalities will come together to make the financing possible.

Färber hopes for a quick agreement, also because public expectations for animal welfare have increased significantly.

The district provides additional financial support

In order to be able to continue to finance the day-to-day running of the home as desired, which, according to Färber, comes together around 400,000 euros per year, the members decided at their most recent meeting to increase membership fees, called an adjustment.

In future, one euro per inhabitant is to be paid by the municipalities.

With this decision, it is said that the sponsoring association is following a financing recommendation from the German Animal Welfare Association.

The district provides additional financial support.

In this regard, the district and association have renewed a corresponding agreement, which will also come into force at the beginning of next year and provides for an increase.

Accordingly, the association will receive a subsidy of 84,000 euros in the current year, from now on this amount will be increased by a further 1,500 euros every year.

There is an additional 6000 euros from the district if the association offers training positions for prospective animal keepers.

As a further voluntary service, the district finances the wild animal sanctuary.

There, injured, sick and orphaned animals from the wild are cured, cared for in a species-appropriate manner and nursed back to health so that they can be released back into nature.

It is particularly important to prepare young animals optimally for freedom and not to keep them in captivity longer than absolutely necessary.

Overall, the district and municipalities contribute a good two-thirds of the funding for the animal shelter, and the association contributes the rest through donations, for example.