Debate about pets

Until when are you spry enough for a dog or cat?

Animal shelter manager Neda Adzic (pictured with dog "Billy") and her staff pay close attention to who is allowed to adopt an animal.

(Bild: Johanna Birbaumer)

When senior citizens want to adopt a pet, they sometimes encounter resistance. The Mentlberg animal shelter in Innsbruck believes that age alone is no reason to exclude interested people from adopting a pet.

To escape loneliness, many people want to get an animal companion in their old age - including Elfriede Auer (name changed by the editors). "At the animal shelter, however, I was told that I was too old for a dog," the 71-year-old Innsbruck resident tells the "Krone" newspaper, "even though you constantly hear that they are bursting at the seams."