Only vacation counts

Sad peak season at the animal shelters!

These are by no means sad individual fates.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/fotomomentfoto)

The same tragic scenario is repeated every year during the vacation season: the number of animals that have grown tired of their owners increases throughout Austria. Animal shelters face enormous challenges: "If we say that we have no more space, we are insulted. People threaten to abandon the animal or have it shot!"

A white cat was recently left to its fate in a taped-up transport box at a bathing pond in Vienna (see picture below). In a wooded area, hikers discovered a completely dehydrated dog tied to a tree. A cage with a dwarf rabbit mother and her offspring stood in front of a supermarket's garbage room - in the sun, at 37 degrees outside.

Drastic increase in cases in the first week of the vacations
Sad individual fates, you might think - but unfortunately the opposite is the case! "In the first week of the vacations, the City of Vienna's animal rescue service has already seen a drastic increase in call-outs, by an average of 70 percent! Time and again we find animals that have been heartlessly discarded like garbage. Before you acquire a living creature, you should think deeply and seriously consider whether you are up to this responsibility," says Thomas Benda, Operations Manager of TierQuarTier Vienna.

Abandoned pets or pets that have become unwelcome to their owners are a nationwide animal welfare problem, especially during the vacation season. For years, a ripple effect has been observed in the surrender or abandonment of animals in connection with the major school vacations.

No one has to abandon an animal!

• Abandoning animals is a punishable offense and is considered animal cruelty! While some affected four-legged friends are found in time and taken into a shelter, others are not so lucky - the chance of survival for abandoned animals is not particularly high!
• There are numerous ways to find good shelter during the vacation season. There are usually people in the private sector who will take in a guest animal or board it in their familiar surroundings.
• For information and tips on boarding kennels, pet sitters or even in emergency situations (should an animal have to be given away), please contact the "Krone" animal corner: 05 7060 23317, e-mail: [e-mail]

Animal rescue centers are extremely overcrowded and completely overloaded during this time. Above all, it is dogs, cats and small animals that people often dispose of inconspicuously. Some of these "vacation victims" are animals that were cute and adorable as Christmas presents, but are now seen as nothing more than a burden.

Animal shelter at the limit of its capacity
At the animal shelter run by Pfotenhilfe Lochen (Upper Austria), the phones have also been ringing off the hook for weeks because owners want to get rid of their four-legged friends. "It's desperate, because if we cancel because we simply have no more space, especially now, we are shouted at, insulted or even threatened to abandon the animal or have it shot," says Jürgen Stadler to "Krone".

There are many reasons why people want to get rid of their pets during the summer months: four-legged friends are not allowed in vacation homes, the prices of boarding kennels seem prohibitive, no one can take care of them in their living environment. Or the classics that apply all year round: There is a lack of time, resources and willingness to look after an animal.

It should be a matter of course to look for suitable vacation care for your pet as soon as possible. After all, family members and friends are never abandoned!

Maggie Entenfellner, Ressortleiterin „Krone“-Tierecke

Bild: ORF/Günther Pichlkostner

No matter why a pet is abandoned by its owner, it always suffers the most in this situation. Being left alone by a trusted person in an unfamiliar place leaves an animal distraught and panicked. Even if it physically survives the extreme stressful situation, emotional and physical scars remain.

It takes thirty days at the shelter before an abandoned animal is released for adoption - 30 days of waiting, frightened and distraught in a strange environment, in most cases in vain! Only then does the search for a new home begin. And this can take longer. 

Correct behavior with a found animal
Only try to catch a lost animal if you are not putting yourself or your four-legged friend in danger. Please do not take animals you think have been abandoned with you, but inform the relevant authorities (local animal rescue, animal shelter, police). Wait until the experts arrive. You can offer the animal some water. Speak to it in a calm, friendly tone and please keep your distance. This will let the animal know that you are not in any danger.