More than eighty dogs stayed in the B&B in Zevenhuizen, rented out by former mayor Berend Hoekstra van Westerkwartier. The resident of Norg says he feels misled by the bread breeder to whom he rents his property.
“I want to get rid of them as soon as possible,” says Berend Hoekstra about the tenants. Until a few years ago, the retired mayor lived in a renovated farm on the Bolmeer in Zevenhuizen. Before he stepped down as mayor at the end of 2018, he converted the building into a B&B, then moved to Norg.
Tenants from Brabant reported: Ferri Louwens and his partner Desirée de Beer. They had a dog breeding business: Golden Bears. “I did have a gut feeling,” says Hoekstra, “so we went to look in Brabant. They had a few dogs, it looked neat.”
Neighbors are fed up with the breeding
Karen Soeters of animal rights organization House of Animals states that the cheerful pictures on the website of Golden Bears in stark contrast to practice. ,,I am shocked by what we found there . Especially the males that are kept piled up in crates in a dark shed. When it rains, dogs that do sit outside often have no shelter. They have no or insufficient water, no soft blanket to lie on. Outside I see dirty and empty water bowls and food that has been thrown on the sand.”
The breeding farm in Zevenhuizen seems relatively small, she explains, but that is also because many dogs are housed with ‘host parents’. Females stay with these families. When they have to pitch, they go to Zevenhuizen.
The neighbors of the breeders on the Bolmeer have been annoyed by the barking of the dogs since mid-March. They are deeply disappointed in their former neighbour. “Berend Hoekstra knew from the start that they were bread breeders.” Ferri Louwens confirms that: ,,We have had several conversations with Hoekstra. He knew that we would breed commercially.”
Bread breeding is a million-dollar trade
Bread breeding is a million-dollar business, says Karen Soeters of House of Animals. Thousands of animals are waiting for an owner in the shelter. But puppies are popular. Then the bread breeders come into the picture. They offer puppies on Marktplaats. The vast majority of the advertisements there are placed by bread breeders from the Netherlands and often Eastern Europe, who sell tens of thousands of puppies in this way, bred in puppy factories where animal welfare is seriously harmed in every way, according to House of Animals.
“Berend can’t lose his house and now we’re stuck with it”
On March 8, House of Animals warned both Hoekstra and the municipality of Westerkwartier that the breeders are controversial, to say the least. “Berend has been here,” the neighbors say. ,,He said that Labradoodles would be bred for the elite in Amsterdam. That man cannot sell his house and now rents it out for big money. But we’re stuck with it.”
At House of Animals it has been raining complaints about Golden Bears for years. The dogs would have abnormalities and carry diseases. The company was located at five addresses in four years, but had to leave everywhere.
The municipality took a look at the Bolmeer on April 12 and found 48 dogs and 35 puppies. The breeding must stop, the municipality of Westerkwartier ruled, because it is not allowed according to the zoning plan. The former mayor also says he did not know that, he interprets the rules differently. “I disagree with the municipality of Westerkwartier on this.”
‘We will continue with the B&B, there are already reservations’
His tenants do not have to move from him. “The dogs do.” The breeders have until October to sell their dogs. Fokker Louwens reports that they are phasing out. “There are only twelve dogs left. We have deregistered Golden Bears from the Chamber of Commerce. We will continue with the B&B, there are already reservations.”
Soeters doesn’t believe it. On Friday, House of Animals published a blog with video about the abuses at Golden Bears. “The phone was then red hot with host parents who took a female into their home until the animal is pregnant. Lourens and De Beer are still calling to inquire whether the bitch is already in heat and whether the dog can come by.”
Watch the House of Animals report here and the response that former mayor Hoekstra gave to House of Animals.