"Knows nothing about the end"

Confusion surrounding the agreement on abandoned dogs

Rescued instead of taken away: One of the first dogs to be taken in at Gut Aiderbichl.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

In Salzburg, there has always been disagreement about the placement of animals that have been taken away. The story is now one chapter richer. Deputy Mayor Florian Kreibich (ÖVP) considers an agreement with Gut Aiderbichl to be over, but they just don't know anything about it ...

Dieter Ehrengruber, Managing Director of Gut Aiderbichl, is puzzled by the "Krone" inquiry: Apparently, an agreement from 2022 is no longer valid. Dogs from the city of Salzburg that had been taken away by the authorities were to end up at the animal farm in Henndorf. Former mayor Harald Preuner had concluded the agreement. However, new city deputy Florian Kreibich (ÖVP) has now stated in an answer to a question from the Citizens' List that the agreement is no longer valid due to a lack of fulfilled expectations.

Gut Aiderbichl boss Dieter Ehrengruber still assumes that the contract is still valid.

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Disagreements between the city and animal shelters
"I'm hearing this for the first time today," says Ehrengruber. Since 2022, the Aiderbichl boss has taken in 29 dogs. They had all previously bitten people in the city or their owners could no longer cope with them. "This year, there was actually only one request from the city," says Ehrengruber. "That was for a Dogo Argentino, which we had to turn down because of its special care needs." The managing director still assumes that the agreement will remain in place. He would accept dogs at the estate at any time.

After bites or other abuses, dogs are often taken away by the authorities.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

For years, animals taken from their owners by official vets have been shuttled back and forth between shelters. In the city, there has also been friction between the animal shelter and the city council on several occasions. Some politicians massively criticized the operators, who fought back.

In the past, the shelters in Hallein and Lochen had repeatedly reached their capacity limits and at times were out of the question. This was one of the reasons why Preuner personally presented Aiderbichl as a solution and granted a subsidy of 70,000 euros. This went towards infrastructure for the dogs and running costs. All in the belief that they had concluded an agreement for years to come...