It was a household name in Son en Breugel for forty years. Animal boarding house de Brug. Owners Gerda (74) and Piet (85) have a reputation for making every dog and cat feel at ease. They never had to advertise, because there were more than enough regular customers. But due to their age and Piet’s health problems, they ended it in December.
They still have dogs, because that is their great passion. But the cages where the animals stayed are empty and Gerda and Piet are already busy cleaning up. Does Gerda miss the dogs barking? “No”, is the answer: “Because they are not barkers. If you raise a dog well, it will not benefit you. I will do anything for a dog. If there is something, I am the first to go outside to have a look. If necessary, I’ll have to go to sleep.”
“Give all dogs a hug and a treat.”
Having to take care of the animals almost all the time became too much of a burden for Gerda and Piet: “At a certain point you have to admit that it is too much. It is too heavy. You are busy day and night. In the summer I started at six o’clock in the morning. Until twelve o’clock at night when I did my last round.
When Gerda and Piet started forty years ago, there was already an animal boarding facility: “But it was in very poor condition. The floors looked bad, there was no heating, everything was cold.” After they took over the guest house, Gerda and Piet renovated almost everything. There was even a separate kitchen for the dogs. All the food for the four-legged friends was prepared there. “We also had a lot of dogs that were on a diet. I made different food for them.”
Working in the animal shelter was a hobby for Gerda: “I am not a person to stand in a shop or sit in an office. A dog is always happy when you come, they are always in a good mood. It is also nice to work. People Those who love dogs understand that. You have to devote time and attention to it, otherwise the dogs will not like to come.” The dogs that came to stay did not suffer from stress: “You just have to give them a little attention when they come in.”
“Sometimes we had interns and they would be gone in no time.”
The closure caused many reactions from regular customers. Where should I go with my dog now? It’s not that simple, because according to Gerda, more and more animal shelters are closing because the owners are getting older. And she thinks young people find running a boarding house too much work: “Sometimes we had interns and they were gone within a day.”
People think far too easily about getting a dog, Gerda sees. Especially during the corona crisis, many people adopted a dog, only to quickly throw it away. “I have noticed that. Then you get dogs that have not been trained at all and that constantly jump. If I raise my voice, they know that something is not allowed. But I will never hit a dog.”
“If my husband doesn’t call every now and then, I’ll just keep going.”
Gerda is certainly not bored now that the animal shelter has closed down: “Oh, I have so many hobbies. I have built a garden shed and am going to grow some plants and vegetables. I don’t know the word bored. I am going to clean and tidy up everything here first. “I’m really a ‘clean-up lady’. This week I’ve been busy for eight hours straight. If my husband doesn’t shout every now and then, that’s enough, I’ll keep going.”